Heather J. Ross

Heather J. Ross
Born
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Known forHeart failure, heart transplantation, Test Your Limits
AwardsMember, Order of Canada

CCS Women in Cardiovascular Medicine/Science Mentorship Award, Canadian Heart Failure Society Annual Achievement Award. Canadian Medical Hall of Fame,

ESC Inspirational Career Lecture, European Society of Cardiology.
Academic work
DisciplineWomen in Cardiology
InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto

Heather Joan Ross is Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.[1] Currently, Ross is a scientific lead for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and holds the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Heart Function.[2] She was previously the Head of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (2019-2025) and held the Pfizer Chair in Cardiovascular Research at the University of Health Network (2019-2025).[2] Additionally, her past leadership roles include directing the Ted Rogers Centre of Excellence in Heart Function (2010-2018) and the Cardiac Transplant Program (1997-2018) at Toronto General Hospital, as well as the serving as the president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the president of the Canadian Society of Transplantation. [3][4][5]

Education and early life

Ross was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At age 11, she did a 100 km bicycle trip and since has been a parachutist, a mountain biker, a rock-climber, a skier and a triathlete.[6][7] She credits her grandfather and patients for motivating her to exercise and coined the slogan "your life is worth one hour a day".[6][8] After attending Queen's University for an undergraduate degree in biology, she went to the University of British Columbia for her medical degree and Dalhousie University for her specialization in cardiology. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in heart failure/heart transplantation at Stanford University. In addition, she studied bioethics, obtaining a master's degree at the University of Toronto.[1]

Ross is a multi-instrumentalist, learning to play the saxophone, guitar and harmonica at a young age. She is currently the lead vocalist of an R&B band called "The Marginal Donors".[9][10] The band includes two of University Health Network's transplant surgeons, Dr. Mark Cattral and Dr. Paul Greig.[11]

Career

Ross began her career in 1996 at Toronto General Hospital's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. By 2018, she was involved in the care of over 500 patients undergoing heart transplantation.[12] Ross specializes in issues related to end-of-life in patients with advanced heart failure, targeting gaps in end-of-life care. In 2006, Ross founded Test Your Limits, an organization that has raised over 4 million dollars for heart failure research and included expeditions to Antarctica (2006), Nepal (2008), North Pole (2010), South Pole (2013), Bhutan (2014), Nahanni (2015), Mount Everest (2017), Greenland (2018), Ecuador (2023), and New Zealand (2024).[13] She is the recipient of the Order of Canada (2021),[14] and the inaugural CCS Women in Cardiovascular Medicine/Science Mentorship Award.[15] She was awarded the Ontario Health Quality Award (2024) for her help with Indigenous communities and the Inter-American Society of Cardiology Lifetime Achievement Award (2025).[2]

Research interests

Ross has authored over 470 peer-reviewed publications with an interest in end-of-life care, health equity, mobile health and outcomes in patients with advanced heart failure and heart transplantation.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Heather Ross |". ims.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  2. 1 2 3 "Heather Ross". UHN.
  3. ↑ "University of Toronto Faculty". Archived from the original on January 24, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kells, Cathy. "CCS President's Message". Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  5. ↑ "CST Past Presidents". Canadian Society of Transplantation. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  6. 1 2 "Physician's heart-healthy prescription: Exercise addiction". Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  7. ↑ "Canada's greatest modern women explorers". Canadian Geographic. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  8. ↑ "Is Your Life Worth One Hour A Day?". Personal Health News. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  9. ↑ Smith, Michael (2006-01-17). "Transplant doctor climbs mountains". CNN. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  10. ↑ "Toronto's 30 Best Doctors". Toronto Life. 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  11. ↑ "5th International Pub Night - Fresh Print Magazine". Fresh Print Magazine. 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  12. ↑ "Paving the way to truly mend a broken (donor) heart in the future". www.uhn.ca. Archived from the original on January 24, 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  13. ↑ "Test Your Limits". Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  14. ↑ "The names and citations of the new members of the Order of Canada". Toronto Star. 30 December 2020.
  15. ↑ https://twitter.com/pmunkcardiacctr/status/1319341341118287875?lang=en. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "Heather Ross". PubMed. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
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