Bio
I am a board-certified clinical cardiologist with a doctorate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. I have over 30 years of medical practice and more than 25 years of research experience. I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, where I earned my medical degree from McGill University in 1994. I then pursued nearly two years of surgical training before switching to internal medicine. I completed my residency in internal medicine and earned a master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Samy Suissa, before moving to Stanford University in 2001 to pursue fellowship training in adult cardiology. During my fellowship and instructorship at Stanford, I completed a PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a focus on pharmacoepidemiology, again under Dr. Suissa's supervision.
Since relocating to Stanford, my main research focus has been identifying the genomic determinants of coronary heart disease (CHD) and its risk factors. This shift in my research direction was guided by the valuable advice and unique opportunities provided by Dr. Thomas Quertermous, former chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine and my primary mentor for many years after I arrived at Stanford. Since then, I have dedicated most of my time to advanced population-based studies on the genomic causes of heart attacks and related conditions that increase risk, such as high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. My research extends beyond standard genetic variant association studies to include analyses, interpretation, and integration of multi-omic data; the construction and validation of polygenic scores; Mendelian randomization; epigenetic associations; and gene set enrichment analyses to uncover novel pathways of CHD in diverse populations.
In this context, I have contributed to and led numerous translational team science projects at both the national and international levels, representing Stanford in large consortia that meta-analyze genomic data. These include CARDIoGRAMplusC4D, GLGC, GIANT, GENESIS, TAICHI, and PAGE. I have also been an active investigator in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) since 2010, serving as chair or co-chair of the WHI Genetics, Proteomics, and Biomarkers Scientific Interest Group, and as a member of the WHI Ancillary Studies Committee. Concurrently, I launched multiple genomic studies within WHI that generated resources such as blood methylation, circulating miRNA, telomere lengths, and bulk RNA-seq. Through WHI, I have also served as a senior or key co-investigator in NHLBI’s Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program, leading whole-genome sequencing projects related to CHD.
Starting in 2016, I became deeply involved with the Million Veteran Program (MVP), serving as a senior or key co-investigator and PI on several funded projects focused on the genetics of cardiometabolic traits. I also held roles as co-chair of the MVP P&P Committee, the MVP CVD/Lipids Working Group, and the MVP COVID-19 Science Program Genomics and PRS Working Group. Due to my intensive involvement with MVP, I was appointed to a full-time position at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System in 2018. In collaboration with Dr. Phil Tsao, overall and national co-PI of MVP, I hold key administrative roles and coordinate the local genomics research within the recently established Precision Health Service at the Palo Alto VA. At the same time, I teach general cardiology and echocardiography to medical students, residents, and cardiology fellows at the Stanford-affiliated Palo Alto VA Hospital.
