Speakers
Francesco Cappuccio, MD
Francesco Cappuccio is the Cephalon Chair and Director of the ESH Centre of Excellence in Hypertension & Cardio-Metabolic Research at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom. He is a Program Development Group Member in the area of Prevention of cardiovascular disease with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (UK), a Member of the Executive Committee of the British Hypertension Society, and Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nutrition at Warwick.
Dr. Cappuccio’s main interests are in the prevention, detection and management of hypertension and its complications of the heart, brain, kidneys and the circulation. His research interests are the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, nutrition and health, metabolic abnormalities and cardiovascular risk, risk in ethnic minorities, both in developed and developing countries.
Dr. Cappuccio is author of more than 350 publications in peer-reviewed journals and text-books.
Sonia Y. Angell, MD, MPH
Dr. Sonia Angell is director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the United States. She is responsible for initiatives and policies designed to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in New York City residents and to eliminate related health disparities. Her program is responsible for actions to restrict the use of artificial trans fat in restaurants, to establish New York City Government Agency Food Procurement Nutrition Standards, and is now leading a national effort to reduce population sodium intake. Other program activities aim to improve the clinical diagnosis, treatment and control of cardiovascular disease risk factors through health systems change and community-based programming. Dr. Angell served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the US.
Dr. Angell received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed Primary Care Internal Medicine residency training at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She has a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan. She is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine and Attending Physician at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University/New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Godfrey C. Xuereb
Godfrey Xuereb is currently the Team Leader for Population-based Prevention in the Unit for Surveillance and Population-based Prevention within the World Health Organization. Mr Xuereb was previously Public Health Nutritionist for the Caribbean within WHO Americas Region. Prior to joining WHO, he was in-charge of Health Promotion and advisor on International Health at the Ministry of Health in Malta. During his tenure in Malta he set up the dietetic services within the Department of Health. He has held the post of Honorary Secretary of the European Diabetes Education Study Group and is the author of a number of patient education documents, training documents for health care professionals and publications in peer reviewed journals.
Eldon R. Smith, OC, MD 
Eldon Smith is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is Advisory Board Chair of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta. From 1997 to 2010 he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and was appointed as Steering Committee Chair for the Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan by the Canadian Federal Ministry of Health in 2006. Dr. Smith is also a Past President of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges and Vice President of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology. In 2005, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Dr. Smith has published more than 250 papers and book chapters
Todd Anderson, MD
Dr. Todd J. Anderson, Professor of Cardiac Sciences and Medicine at the University of Calgary, is a Senior Scholar of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and Chair of the Scientific Review Committee of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Currently, he is Interim Director of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta and Acting Head of the Department of Cardiac Sciences. Dr. Anderson has been Chief of Cardiology at the University of Calgary since 2006 and is currently Co-lead of a major AHFMR province-wide team grant for the study of diastolic heart failure.
Dr. Anderson is an internationally recognized expert in the assessment and treatment of endothelial dysfunction as well as cardiovascular risk factors. His 1995 article on the close relation of endothelial function in the human coronary and peripheral circulations laid important groundwork in the area of non-invasive biomarkers for atherosclerosis.
Tim Watson, MD
TBD
Norm Campbell, MD
Norm Campbell, Professor of Medicine, Community Health Sciences and Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Calgary, is Chair of the Pan American Health Organization Dietary Salt Work Group. He is leading the effort to prevent and control hypertension in Canada as the CIHR Canadian Chair in Hypertension Prevention and Control and via his involvement at leadership levels with the Canadian Hypertension Education Program and Blood Pressure Canada. In the past Dr Campbell has been President of the Canadian Hypertension Society, the Canadian Coalition for High Blood Pressure Prevention and Control and the Canadian Society for Clinical Pharmacology. He has received a number of awards including the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Leadership Award in Heart Healthy Policy in 2007.
Dr Campbell has over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts.
Charlotte Jones, MD, PhD
Charlotte Jones, Associate Professor of medicine at the University of Calgary, is an endocrinologist and Medical Director of the Calgary Zone Alberta Health services Hypertension and Cholesterol Center. Her main area of interest is in mobilizing communities to increase awareness, detection and control of cardiovascular risk factors (including hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol disorders). She has been involved in developing and implementing the Cardiovascular Health, Awareness and Management Program (CHAMP). Most recently her efforts have been directed towards developing a collaborative interprofessional program uniting nursing, pharmacy and medical students from the Universities of Alberta and Calgary to plan and implement CHAMP programs. These programs are being disseminated throughout the Province of Alberta (and beyond) in rural, urban, multicultural and worksite communities.
Sandeep Aggarwal, MD
Sandeep Aggarwal, Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiac Sciences) at the University of Calgary, is the Medical Director of the Cardiology Consultants Heart Function Clinic and the Cardiac Wellness Institute of Calgary. He has completed training at the University of Toronto, Queens University, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the University of Ottawa and the University of Calgary. Dr. Aggarwal has a special interest in echocardiography, heart failure and cardiac rehabilitation.
James A. Stone, MD, PhD
James A. Stone, Clinical Professor of Medicine (Cardiac Sciences) at the University of Calgary, is Medical Director of Nuclear Cardiology at Cardiology Plus and is Director of Research at the Cardiac Wellness Institute of Calgary. In addition to his medical designations, Dr. Stone holds a Masters of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and a PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology. He is a Past-President of the Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (CACR), is the current Chairperson and Editor-in-Chief of the CACR Canadian Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, and is Chairperson of the Canadian Vascular Coalition.
David Hogan, MD
David Hogan, the Brenda Strafford Foundation Chair in Geriatric Medicine at University of Calgary, is the founding head of University of Calgary's Division of Geriatric Medicine. He has served as chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) Specialty Committee in Geriatric Medicine, chief examiner in Geriatric Medicine for the RCPSC, and president of the Canadian Geriatrics Society. Recently, Dr. Hogan won the 2010 Prix d'Excellence of the Year from the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada
Dr. Hogan is the author of more than 400 publications.
G.E. (John) Coppola, MD
John Coppola is a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. A graduate of the University of Alberta in 1980, he has been a community family physician in Calgary since 1982. He is the Education Lead for the Clinical Department of Family Medicine for the Calgary Zone of Alberta Health Services and Co-Chair of the Alberta EHR Integrated Clinical Working Group. Dr. Coppola has particular interests in CME/CPD and Healthcare IT.
Colleen Cannon, PhD
Dr. Cannon obtained her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Queen’s University. She has specialized in health psychology for over 10 years, providing direct clinical care in various health care settings including eating disorders, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac rehabilitation clinics. Dr. Cannon is currently a member of the heart transplantation team in Vancouver, B.C. Dr. Cannon has extensive experience in multidisciplinary collaboration, consultation, and training and was instrumental in implementing the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program throughout the Calgary Health Region during the launch of the groundbreaking Chronic Disease Management initiative. Dr. Cannon ran a highly successful private practice in Calgary for 5 years that included individual and group clinical services, professional speaking, and the co-development of Craving Change Inc. with Wendy Shah, RD.
Dr. Cannon is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary. She has been a member of the Academy for Eating Disorders since 1999, and is a registered psychologist with the both the British Columbia and the Alberta College of Psychologists.
Wendy Shah, RD
Ms. Shah has contributed widely in the area of chronic disease management including diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia for over 25 years as a Registered Dietitian. She is currently applying her creative and insightful approach to program development with the bariatric program in Calgary. Ms. Shah is a strong advocate for patient self-efficacy and is a Master Trainer with the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. She is also an active member of the Blood Pressure Canada public education task force and received the 2009 Certificate of Excellence for her volunteer work. Ms. Shah is a frequently requested author for professional and consumer articles for Dietitians of Canada. She loves the challenge of creating innovative ways to excite both clients and professionals about the psychosocial and environmental factors that influence our eating behaviours. She shares this keen interest with Dr. Colleen Cannon and together they have developed ground-breaking resources and training programs to help professionals and their clients explore the reasons we eat the way we do and learn strategies for making positive changes.
