Connecting disciplines
The laboratory integrates clinicians, basic scientists, translational researchers and trainees around shared questions in cardiovascular disease and arrhythmia biology.
Our Director
Darryl R. Davis, MD
Clinician-scientist in cardiac electrophysiology and
translational cardiovascular biology
Dr. Davis is a cardiac electrophysiologist and clinician-scientist
at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute whose research focuses
on understanding the biological mechanisms underlying cardiac
arrhythmias and translating those discoveries into new therapies.
Academic Appointment
Professor
University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
Research Leadership
Director, Cardiac Translational Research Laboratory
Division Leadership
Director of Research
Division of Cardiology
Division of Cardiology
Clinical Practice
Cardiac Electrophysiologist
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Scientific Journey
From cardiac regeneration to biological treatment of arrhythmias
Dr. Davis's research program began in cardiac regenerative medicine, studying how heart-derived cells influence repair after myocardial injury.
Over time, work from the laboratory increasingly pointed to paracrine signaling rather than durable cell engraftment as a major mediator of therapeutic benefit. This shifted the research program toward the signals released by cardiac cells and, ultimately, toward extracellular vesicles as acellular therapeutic agents.
That work led to a different question: could the same biological signals be used not simply to repair injured myocardium, but to modify the inflammatory and fibrotic substrate that allows an arrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation to develop and persist?
The current research program combines mechanistic biology, human atrial systems, preclinical disease models, large-animal studies and clinically relevant manufacturing to investigate substrate-directed biological therapies for atrial fibrillation.
01
Cardiac regeneration
Understanding how heart-derived cells influence myocardial repair.
02
Paracrine biology
Defining the secreted signals responsible for therapeutic effects.
03
Extracellular vesicles
Developing acellular biological approaches using heart-derived EVs.
04
Biological therapy for AF
Targeting the inflammatory and fibrotic substrate underlying arrhythmia.
Clinician-Scientist
Clinical problems drive the science
Dr. Davis's clinical practice in cardiac electrophysiology provides direct exposure to both the effectiveness and the limitations of current therapies for atrial fibrillation.
Catheter ablation and antiarrhythmic drugs can treat the electrical manifestation of AF, but they do not directly reverse the inflammatory and fibrotic atrial substrate that supports the disease.
This clinical perspective has shaped the laboratory's focus on biological mechanisms that may complement existing electrical therapies by modifying the underlying disease state.
Central Translational Question
Can we change the biology of the atrium so that it becomes
less capable of supporting atrial fibrillation?
Translational Approach
Building a path from mechanism toward patients
Translational questions are incorporated into the research program
from the beginning rather than added only after a biological
discovery has been made.
01
Mechanism
Inflammation, fibrosis, extracellular vesicle biology
and arrhythmogenesis.
02
Human Models
Primary cardiac cells and patient-specific experimental systems.
03
Preclinical Models
Mechanism, disease biology, delivery, safety and
therapeutic efficacy.
04
Manufacturing
Clinically relevant production, characterization
and product development.
05
Clinical Translation
Building the evidence required to move biological
therapies toward patients.
Translating Academic Discoveries
Extending research beyond the laboratory
Rhythm Biotherapeutics
Discoveries arising from the Cardiac Translational Research Laboratory contributed to the creation of Rhythm Biotherapeutics, a University of Ottawa Heart Institute spinout focused on developing extracellular-vesicle therapeutics for atrial fibrillation.
Visit Rhythm Biotherapeutics →Dr. Davis founded Rhythm Biotherapeutics to provide a dedicated pathway for translating extracellular-vesicle discoveries toward therapeutic development while maintaining the laboratory's academic focus on biological mechanism and disease biology.
Academic and company-supported research activities are conducted within the relevant institutional, funding and intellectual-property frameworks.
Leadership & Mentorship
Building a translational research environment
Dr. Davis leads a multidisciplinary research environment that brings together cardiovascular biology, electrophysiology and therapeutic development.
Training independent scientists
Undergraduate, graduate, medical and postdoctoral trainees are encouraged to understand the biological question behind their experiments, develop scientific independence and learn to communicate why their work matters.
Cardiac Translational Research Laboratory
Mechanism informs translation.
The goal is not simply to understand cardiovascular disease,
but to use that understanding to create better ways of treating it.
