Duncan Stewart, MD, FRCPC
djstewart@ohri.ca
Telephone: 613-737-8899 x 79017
Fax: 613-739-6294
CEO & Scientific Director and Senior Scientist in the Regenerative Medicine Program and Evelyne and Rowell Laishley Chair, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Vice President, Research, The Ottawa Hospital
Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Duncan Stewart is a pioneering Canadian cardiovascular researcher, recognized for his many important discoveries in blood vessel biology as well as his dedication to translating these discoveries into benefits for patients and society.
After beginning his career in academic cardiology at McGill University in Montreal, he moved to Toronto as Head of Cardiology at St. Michael’s Hospital and later Director of the Division of Cardiology, and Executive Director of the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine at the University of Toronto. In 2007, he became the CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Stewart has made a number of seminal discoveries elucidating the importance of endothelial factors in health and disease, notably the role of the nitric oxide system in angiogenesis and the role of endothelin-1 in pulmonary hypertension. He is also a leader in developing cell and gene based therapies for cardiovascular disease. He led the first Canadian clinical trial to test an angiogenic gene therapy – using VEGF to try to stimulate heart repair in people who had suffered heart attacks. He is also spearheading the world’s first clinical trial of a gene-enhanced cell therapy for pulmonary hypertension, using endothelial progenitor cells engineered to over-express endothelial nitric oxide synthase. He is also poised to launch the first enhanced progenitor cell therapy trial for post heart-attack repair, and he is leading a Canadian effort to initiate the world’s first trial of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Dr. Stewart has published more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has received a number of distinctions and prizes, including the Dexter Man Chair of Cardiology and Research Achievement Award of the University of Toronto, and the Research Achievement Award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Throughout his career, Dr. Stewart has demonstrated leadership in bringing diverse groups of clinicians and scientists together to put Canada on the world stage for translational cardiovascular and regenerative medicine research.
Please note that both the Stewart and Courtman labs are actively recruiting talented students and staff.
Selected Publications
Mesenchymal stem cells reduce inflammation while enhancing bacterial clearance and improving survival in sepsis. Mei SH, Haitsma JJ, Dos Santos CC, Deng Y, Lai PF, Slutsky AS, Liles WC, Stewart DJ. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010 Oct 15;182(8):1047-57.
VEGF gene therapy fails to improve perfusion of ischemic myocardium in patients with advanced coronary disease: results of the NORTHERN trial. Stewart DJ, Kutryk MJ, Fitchett D, Freeman M, Camack N, Su Y, Della Siega A, Bilodeau L, Burton JR, Proulx G, Radhakrishnan S; NORTHERN Trial Investigators. Mol Ther. 2009 Jun;17(6):1109-15. Epub 2009 Apr 7.
Prevention of LPS-induced acute lung injury in mice by mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing angiopoietin 1. Mei SH, McCarter SD, Deng Y, Parker CH, Liles WC, Stewart DJ. PLoS Med. 2007;4(9):e269.
Angiogenic gene therapy in patients with nonrevascularizable ischemic heart disease: a phase 2 randomized, controlled trial of AdVEGF(121) (AdVEGF121) versus maximum medical treatment. Stewart DJ, Hilton JD, Arnold JM, Gregoire J, Rivard A, Archer SL, Charbonneau F, Cohen E, Curtis M, Buller CE, Mendelsohn FO, Dib N, Page P, Ducas J, Plante S, Sullivan J, Macko J, Rasmussen C, Kessler PD, Rasmussen HS. Gene Ther. 2006;13(21):1503-11.
Rescue of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension using bone marrow-derived endothelial-like progenitor cells: efficacy of combined cell and eNOS gene therapy in established disease. Zhao YD, Courtman DW, Deng Y, Kugathasan L, Zhang Q, Stewart DJ. Circ Res. 2005;96(4):442-50.
Angiogenic actions of angiopoietin-1 require endothelium-derived nitric oxide. Babaei S, Teichert-Kuliszewska K, Zhang Q, Jones N, Dumont DJ, Stewart DJ. Am J Pathol. 2003;162(6):1927-36.
Defective lung vascular development and fatal respiratory distress in endothelial NO synthase-deficient mice: a model of alveolar capillary dysplasia? Han RN, Babaei S, Robb M, Lee T, Ridsdale R, Ackerley C, Post M, Stewart DJ. Circ Res. 2004;94(8):1115-23.
Role of nitric oxide in the angiogenic response in vitro to basic fibroblast growth factor. Babaei S, Teichert-Kuliszewska K, Monge JC, Mohamed F, Bendeck MP, Stewart DJ. Circ Res. 1998 May 18;82(9):1007-15.
Expression of endothelin-1 in the lungs of patients with pulmonary hypertension. Giaid A, Yanagisawa M, Langleben D, Michel RP, Levy R, Shennib H, Kimura S, Masaki T, Duguid WP, Stewart DJ. N Engl J Med. 1993 Jun 17;328(24):1732-9.
Increased plasma endothelin-1 in pulmonary hypertension: marker or mediator of disease? Stewart DJ, Levy RD, Cernacek P, Langleben D. Ann Intern Med. 1991 Mar 15;114(6):464-9.
