Dr. Marc Ruel: Team Founder
Dr. Ruel is the Division Head and Chair of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He received his MD degree from the University of Ottawa in 1994 and his Royal College specialist certification in cardiac surgery in 2000. He subsequently pursued a combined fellowship in angiogenesis research and minimally invasive surgery at Harvard, where he also completed a Master’s in Public Health.
Dr. Ruel is a Professor in the Department of Surgery (primary affiliation) and in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (cross-appointed affiliation) at the University of Ottawa. At the start of his career - with considerable support from the CFI, CIHR and the HSFC - Dr. Ruel founded what later became the BEaTS-Research laboratory & research program, including the targeted, high-profile recruitments of Dr. Suuronen and Dr. Alarcón. Countless talented students also joined the program, helping achieve important translational impact and often evolving to Faculty positions.
A seasoned heart surgeon, innovator and researcher, Dr. Ruel is widely credited with the development of minimally invasive multivessel coronary artery bypass surgery worldwide, as well as with furthering other minimally invasive cardiac techniques. Dr. Ruel has published over 400 scientific papers and book chapters, trained hundreds of experienced surgeons on his minimally invasive techniques, is the recipient of numerous academic and community awards, and is recognized as one of the 'Giants of Cardiothoracic Surgery’.
Dr. Ruel is the President of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), one of the most respected medical societies in the world. Since the CCS was established in 1947, only three other surgeons have held this role. Dr. Ruel is also the Canadian Director of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the surgical Editor of the prestigious journal Circulation.
The motivational link to Dr. Ruel’s career is to improve the usefulness, access, safety and efficiency, procedural outcomes, education, and research around cardiac surgery and cardiovascular care in general, to benefit society. To achieve this within his field, he embraces the "triple-threat" model - i.e. excellence in clinical\surgical care and innovation, research, and in the dissemination of knowledge- to bring credible medical and academic leadership towards positive societal impact.
