News

Dr. Denis-Roy, a cardiologist emeritus at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), received the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Research Achievement Award yesterday at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2021. This prestigious award is given annually to an established investigator working on an aspect of cardiovascular research in Canada.

Canada’s Interventional Electrophysiology Pioneer

The youngest chief of the Cardiology Department at the MHI, Dr. Roy, created the interventional electrophysiology service in the 1980s. Under his management, the first surgical and catheter-based arrhythmia treatment procedures were performed, and patients were given access to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in cardiac electrophysiology.

His leadership in this field of cardiology has earned him the very first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society as well as the Persillier-Lachapelle Award from the Ministry of Health and Social Services of the Government of Quebec.

Dr. Roy is an internationally recognized researcher and author of numerous leading scientific publications that have furthered cardiology practice, especially cardiac arrhythmia. He led the Canadian multicentre atrial fibrillation study and directed the Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Heart Failure Trial (AF-CHF). He is currently co-leading the multicentre BRAIN-AF study, the first study in the world to analyze the effect of atrial fibrillation on cognitive decline in young patients.

He is Professor of Medicine and has served as Director of the Department of Medicine and Executive Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal.

He has also held various management positions throughout his career, including president and CEO of the MHI, president of the Association des cardiologues du Québec and president of the CCS.

Research Achievement Award

Each year, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) recognizes the outstanding achievements of individual Canadians and Canadian organizations that contribute to cardiovascular health and care through the CCS Recognition Awards. These awards are granted for excellence in teaching, exemplary care, prevention of cardiovascular diseases and overall career contribution and research through the Research Achievement Award. This award was created in 1982 in recognition of research excellence in the field of cardiology.