Dr. Sonia Anand

Her work will someday help to knock cardiovascular disease out of its position as the biggest killer of Canadians. At just 36 years old, the researcher, clinician and associate professor at McMaster University has managed to pack the past 10 years with a host of efforts to understand the many factors that contribute to an illness that pervades our society.

Her research focus is on risk factors for vascular disease in ethnic groups, but her work also encompasses illnesses such as diabetes and obesity, with an added emphasis on women’s health.

Dr. Anand is holder of the endowed Eli Lilly Canada – May Cohen Chair in Women’s Health, has a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Clinician Scientist Award, and is an active physician and director of the vascular medicine clinic at Hamilton Health Sciences.

Her interest in cardiovascular disease goes back to her days of training in internal medicine at McMaster during the mid-1990s.

"Cardiovascular disease affects such a huge percentage of the population," she said. "It’s the largest killer of Canadians, and outnumbers cancer deaths."

"Every new discovery or intervention in treating it has the potential to have a major impact on improving the health of Canadians."

Dr. Anand is currently principal investigator on studies dubbed WAVE, EpiDREAM and SHARE-AP Action. WAVE (Warfarin Antiplatelet Vascular Evaluation) is a randomized clinical trial underway in eight countries, involving 2,100 people with peripheral arterial disease. EpiDREAM, an epidemiologic study of the determinants of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, involves 24,000 participants in 21 countries. Funded by CIHR and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the study is testing the use together of Aspirin and Coumadin (a blood-thinning drug) to treat patients with vascular problems in the legs. SHARE-AP (Study of Health Assessment and Risk Evaluation – Aboriginal Peoples) Action involves families living on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ont., the largest reserve in Canada. The Heart and Stroke Foundation also fund it.

"We are studying ways to lower the body weight among people of the Six Nations Reserve, by promoting a healthy lifestyle and decreasing energy intake," said Dr. Anand, explaining that they hope to prove such intervention methods will decrease the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. An earlier, preliminary study showed aboriginals have a much higher risk than the general population for both illnesses.

Dr. Anand also helped lead the original SHARE study, which found that the prevalence of heart disease varies significantly among Canadians of Chinese, South Asian and European origin.

Most recently, Dr. Anand was named network team leader of a group of clinician-investigators who are studying the different ways woman and men are affected by and treated for cardiovascular disease. Called CARING (Cardiovascular Investigations in Gender), the network will be "applying the gender lens" to cardiovascular illness, as well as training new researchers and ensuring the research results are easily accessible to the Canadian public. The network is being funded over five years by about $1 million from CIHR and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Dr. Anand earned her medical degree at McMaster in 1992, followed by a residency in internal medicine completed in 1996. From McMaster she also earned a Master’s degree in clinical epidemiology in 1996, and a PhD in Health Research Methodology in 2002. She completed a vascular medicine fellowship at Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2001.

In 1999 she won the Cardiovascular Society Young Investigator Award, and in 2001 she earned the Canadian Society Internal Medicine Young Investigator Award.

For further information, please contact Dr. Sonia Anand using the Email contact form or by phone at 519 525-9140 ext 7332