The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre's highly-touted new recruit has no hesitation when asked what made him decide to come north.
"I saw a spirit of innovation and an environment that supported creative thinking and encouraged taking scientific risks to discover new therapies and strategies to improve care of our patients with cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Patrick Lawler, a Boston native who was recruited to join an emerging cardiovascular Clinical Trials and Translation Unit at the PMCC.
Dr. Lawler attended medical school and completed his residency at McGill University in Montreal, then spent five years back in Boston at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Like many of his colleagues, he has trained in both the Canadian and American healthcare systems, bringing a broader perspective on key public health questions to UHN.
With areas of interest and expertise in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (heart attack risk factors), cardiovascular therapeutics, and cardiac critical care (heart attack and cardiac arrest management), Dr. Lawler will be an integral part of the PMCC's multi-disciplinary team approach, leading the Molecular Epidemiology and Precision Medicine Group within this developing PMCC research unit.
"The close integration of so many talented people with diverse backgrounds and expertise to work together to solve common problems was very exciting to me," says Dr. Lawler.
Dr. Lawler says he's looking forward to developing innovation in precision medicine in clinical trials. This will contribute towards better describing disease states and responses to therapies within individuals.
"The overall goal is to increase efficiency in our healthcare system by better aligning therapies with individual patients, so-called 'precision medicine," says Dr. Lawler.
The unit is led by Dr. Michael Farkouh, Chair, Peter Munk Centre of Excellence in Multinational Clinical Trials.
"We wanted to recruit the best and brightest to build a strong translational research platform," says Dr. Farkouh.
"Patrick has unique training and a skill set that allows us to pursue trials in personalized medicine," Dr. Farkouh says. "With Patrick and Jay (Dr. Jacob Udell), the future of our unit is locked up and immediately poised to strike on the global stage."
Dr. Patrick Lawler at a glance:
- Cardiac and Critical Care Training – Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
- Master of Public Health (biostatistics, epidemiology) – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Certified by Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (internal medicine, cardiology, critical care medicine)
- Certified by American Board of Internal Medicine (internal medicine, cardiology, critical care medicine)
- 2016 Eugene Braunwald Scholar at Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Clinical Teaching Award-winner — Harvard Medical School and McGill University's Faculty of Medicine.
