Appointments and affiliations
Director of Research
Division of Cardiology
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Director
Cardiac Translational Research Laboratory
Attending Physician
Cardiac Arrhythmia Service
Full Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Ottawa
Tier 1 Clinical Research Chair in Translational Cardiovascular Medicine
Cross-appointed
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Ottawa
Dr. Darryl Davis is a cardiac electrophysiologist and clinician scientist in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He is director of research for the Division of Cardiology and director of the Cardiac Translational Research Laboratory.
He is a full professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, cross-appointed to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and holds a Tier 1 Clinical Research Chair in Translational Cardiovascular Medicine.
Background
Dr. Davis earned his BSc in Biology and Pharmacology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He completed medical school and residency training in Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Ottawa. The desire to understand, engage and expand novel cardiac therapies at a fundamental level prompted Dr. Davis to continue his postgraduate training in the laboratory of Dr. Eduardo Marbán. There, he developed novel techniques to culture resident cardiac stem cells from routine myocardial biopsies with an emphasis on developing novel means of engineering stem cells to enhance potency, engraftment and retention.
Research and clinical interests
Dr. Davis leads a translational cardiovascular research program focused on understanding the biological mechanisms underlying cardiac arrhythmias, inflammatory heart disease and cardiac aging, and using these discoveries to develop new therapies. Major areas of investigation include atrial fibrillation, cardiac sarcoidosis and myocardial inflammation, and the mechanisms governing cardiac aging and repair.
A defining feature of his research program is its emphasis on moving discoveries across the bench-to-bedside continuum. His laboratory integrates mechanistic studies in human cells and tissues with small- and large-animal models, therapeutic development, biologic manufacturing, regulatory development and clinical testing.
A major focus is the development of human heart-derived extracellular vesicles as disease-modifying therapies for atrial fibrillation. This program investigates how extracellular vesicles suppress NLRP3 inflammasome activation and inflammatory-fibrotic atrial remodelling and has progressed from mechanistic discovery through human cardiac models, preclinical efficacy and safety studies, GMP-compatible manufacturing and development toward first-in-human clinical evaluation.
His laboratory also investigates cardiac sarcoidosis and other forms of inflammatory heart disease, including the mechanisms linking myocardial inflammation, fibrosis and arrhythmia. This work has included development of the first acquired experimental model of cardiac sarcoidosis, which is now being used to investigate disease mechanisms, biomarkers and potential therapeutic strategies.
A third area of investigation focuses on the biology of cardiac aging and myocardial repair, including the development of biological approaches to preserve or restore cardiac function with aging.
Dr. Davis also contributes to undergraduate and graduate teaching in cardiovascular biology and clinical and translational medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Davis is also the founder and CEO of Rhythm Biotherapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing extracellular-vesicle-based therapies for atrial fibrillation.
Publications
See current publications list at PubMed and Research Gate profile.