Linked by the heart
News and Events
CHF Alliance hosts a variety of events, including annual face-to-face meetings, webinars, conferences, and educational competitions. All network news (publications, discoveries, awards, collaborations) as well as past and future events are presented The Beat, a monthly newsletter. The Alliance can also be followed on Twitter @chfalliance and LinkedIn.
Read previous editions of our monthly news letter The Beat.
News
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Early Career Investigator Grants Competition Results:
In the Spring of 2023, we launched our first edition of the Early Career Investigator Grants Competition. We received 8 high-quality applications competing for the 4 research grants available. We are pleased to announce the name of the awardees:
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Dr. Guillaume Marquis-Gravel from the Montreal Heart Institute (Université de Montréal): Individualizing revascularization decisions in patients with heart failure and ischemic left ventricular dysfunction based on baseline surgical risk scores in the STICH and the REVIVED-BCIS-2 trials.
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Dr. Jorge Wong from the Hamilton Health Sciences (McMaster University): Bariatric surgery for the Reduction of cArdioVascular Events randomized controlled trial cardiac arRHYTHMmia (BRAVE-Rhythm) sub-study.
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Dr. Natasha Aleksova from the Women's College Hospital (University Health Network): The impact of clonal hematopoiesis on outcomes in inflammatory cardiomyopathies.
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Dr. Maxime Tremblay-Gravel from the Montreal Heart Institute (Université de Montréal): Genetics and Outcomes of dilated cardiomyopathy in the heart failure clinic.
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Congratulations to our young researchers!
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Trainee Awards Competition Results:
In 2023, the CHF Alliance launched its first Trainee Awards Competition, for which we received a large number of high quality applications. Seven awards for one year of salary support were available for this first edition, and we are pleased to announce the names of the awardees:
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Orhun Kose, enrolled in a Postdoc (PhD) program at the McGill University: $30,000 CHF Alliance award for a Postdoc student or an MD enrolled in a research fellowship.
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Nima Moghaddam, enrolled in a Postdoc (MD) program at the University of British Columbia: $30,000 CHF Alliance award for a Postdoc student or an MD enrolled in a research fellowship.
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Luxcia Kugathasan, enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Toronto: $20,000 CHF Alliance award for a Master/PhD student.
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Blair MacDonald, enrolled in a PhD program at the University of British Columbia: $20,000 CHF Alliance award for a Master/PhD student.
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Caroll-Ann Blanchette, enrolled in a PhD program at the Université de Montréal: $20,000 CHF Alliance award for a Master/PhD student enrolled at the Université de Montréal.
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Florent Besnier, enrolled in a Postdoc (PhD) program at the Université de Montréal: $30,000 CHF Alliance award for a Postdoc student enrolled at the Université de Montréal.
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Harry Wilton-Clark, enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Alberta: $30,000 award for trainees working on Precision Health and AI themed projects in HF through the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb.
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Congratulations to our trainees!
Upcoming events
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Webinar: Sustainable Research Infrastructure. The CHF Alliance will be hosting its next webinar on April 30, 2024 at 12 pm ET. This webinar aims to present the following infrastructure and how to use them: Mitewekan, Patient Partners Platform, Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds, and Training Platform.
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6th Edition of the Heart Failure Awareness Week: May 5-11, 2024. This year again, the CHF Alliance will join the Canadian Heart Failure Society and partners to raise awareness on heart failure.
Lear more about the HFAW and download tools and resources here.
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Mitewekan-CHF Alliance Ceremonial Launch on May 22, 2024, in collaboration with the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation.
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CHF Alliance Annual In-Person Meeting: The CHF Alliance will be holding its annual in-person meeting in Montreal on May 23, 2024 at the Marriott Château Champlain Hotel.
Past events
Webinars
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Pediatric Team, November 23, 2022: Dr. Seema Mital and Dr. Aaamir Jeewa gave a high-level overview of the projects and progress of the team. Click here to watch the webinar.
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Indigenous Team, January 25, 2023: The Team gave an overview of their work to date, the development of IPERC-HF, and their vision for the future. Click here to watch the webinar.
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Access Team, March 31, 2023: Team members gave a high-level overview of the different ongoing and in development projects, and accomplishments so far. Click here to watch the webinar.
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CANTRAIN training platform, June 16, 2023: Dr. Bruno Battistini, CANTRAIN National Executive Director and COO, presents the recently CIHR funded CANTRAIN training platform and opportunities offered to the research community. Click here to watch the webinar and here to visit CANTRAIN's website.
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Heart and Stroker Resources, September 14, 2023: Dr. Patrice Lindsay, Lead for the PWLE Engagement and Stroker Strategies at the Heart and Stroke Foundation, provides an overview of the resources and data available at the Foundation. Click here to watch the webinar.
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How to Engage Patient Partners in Research, December 11, 2023: Marc Bains, CHF Alliance Co-Scientific Director and Dr. Davina Banner-Lukaris, Co-Leader of the CHF Alliance Patient Engagement and Empowerment team gave an overview of how to meaningfully engage patient partners in research. Click here to watch the webinar.
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In-Person Meetings and Presentations
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CCC 2022: The CHF Alliance held a one hour session at CCC in Ottawa on October 28, 2022.
Session title: Introduction to the new Canadian Heart Function Alliance Network.
Click here to watch the presentation (This recording is available for distribution through in-kind support for the CHF Alliance from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society).
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First face-to-face annual meeting: The CHF Alliance members had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time at our annual in-person meeting, which was held at the Westin in Ottawa, on October 28, 2022. This was an informal social event where members had the opportunity to meet and share good ideas about heart failure.
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CHF Alliance Toronto in-person meeting May 11, 2023: The CHF Alliance held an in-person meeting in Toronto on May 11, 2023 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. The meeting was a way to group members and move forward with some of the CHF Alliance projects.
Access the presentations and the photo gallery of the meeeting.
A special thanks to our meeting sponsors Roche and Pfizer who supported this event.
Others past events
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February is Heart Month
In partnership with Novartis, Dr. Eileen O'Meara talks about the CHF Alliance in a video produced for Heart Month.
Click here to watch the video.
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​Heart Failure Awereness Week
May 1-7, 2023, was the Heart Failure Awareness Week, an initiative of the Canadian Heart Failure Society (CHFS). The CHF Alliance was proud to be part of the collaborators of this initiative.
Click here to learn more.
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My Broken Heart - Documentary
Exploring the journey from end-stage heart failure, LVAD, heart transplantation, and organ rejection, My Broken Heart is an unflinching look at the unknown, unexpected, and sometimes dire consequences of heart transplantation.
Starring Dr. Jillianne Code, member of the CHF Alliance Executive Committee, Co-founder of the HeartLife Foundation, and patient partner.
Watch the documentaty here.