Dr. Anne Gillis

Heart-rhythm research
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
University of Calgary

Heritage Scientist Dr. Anne Gillis came to the University of Calgary in 1986, attracted by the offer of an AHFMR Clinical Investigator award. The heart-rhythm specialist was eager to find a position that would allow her to treat patients and pursue a research career. “I had serious offers from other provinces,” says Dr. Gillis, who was born and raised in Nova Scotia, “but AHFMR’s guarantee of protected time for research played a key role in my decision to come to Alberta.

“In many other places, physician-scientists have to do a lot of clinical work to generate their salary. If I hadn’t had the protected time for research, I would not have become a successful scientist.”

Successful is a good description for Dr. Gillis. In 2003 she became a Heritage Scientist, the highest award given by AHFMR. She is the first physician-scientist recruited to Alberta as a Clinical Investigator to attain this prestigious level of funding.

Dr. Gillis’ research focuses on heart-rhythm abnormalities: ventricular arrhythmia,which is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death; and atrial fibrillation, the most common heart-rhythm disorder. In her basic-science lab, she uses animal models to study the factors that lead to the development of these abnormalities, as well as to test the effectiveness of new therapies. One of her newest projects, for example, investigates the potential of statins—a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol—to prevent atrial fibrillation.

Dr. Gillis also has a major interest in the technology of pacemakers and other implantable cardiac devices (ICDs). She is often asked to give advice on the development of new ICD technologies and to participate in their evaluation. Her leadership role is the reason why Calgary’s Arrhythmia Program is the first centre in Canada to evaluate a new telehealth technology for patients with implantable defibrillators. In a pilot project, patients were given monitors that allowed them to download the information stored in their defibrillators and transmit it via phone lines to a secure website.

“About 30% of our patients have to travel more than 100 kilometres to get to our clinic,” notes Dr. Gillis. “Many of them are elderly and must have a family member take time off work to travel with them. This new technology could save many trips for routine visits. We may also be able to use it on an urgent basis. If a patient’s defibrillator detects an arrhythmia and gives them a shock, they can send us the data and we can determine whether or not the patient has to come to the clinic. It may just be that their medication needs to be adjusted—something that can be done over the phone.” Dr. Gillis hopes that in the long term this technology will become the standard of care.

“Innovations like these wouldn’t happen without a strong research side to our healthcare system,” says Dr. Gillis. “Heritage-sponsored physician-scientists bring new therapies and diagnostics to their patients. And it’s not just the innovations from their own labs; they bring innovations from around the world into our system.

“Without the leadership of physician-scientists, I don’t think we’d have the state-of-the-art healthcare delivery models that we have in Alberta today.”

Dr. Anne Gillis is a full professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary. An AHFMR Scientist, she is also supported by CIHR, Alberta Health and Wellness, the Calgary Health Trust, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta.

Photo credit: Trudie Lee

For further information, please contact Dr. Anne Gillis using the Email contact form or by phone at 403 220-6841