Cambridge Cardiac Care Centre

Overview: Research

World-class clinical research in a community setting

At Cambridge Cardiac Care we strive to align our research goals with our clinical ones. The synergy between patient care and scientific innovation gives our investigators the ability to recruit from a large and diverse population, producing high-quality, efficient research in a timely manner that serves science as much as the patient-at-hand.

Research considerations are vetted based on: (a) projected patient outcomes (b) scientific relevance (c) cost-benefit analysis (d) our capacity & resources and (d) safety. Our investigators regularly publish in prestigious journals and our extensive network of partnerships encompass regional, national, and international research activities.

Our Research Team

Cambridge Cardiac Care Research team is made up of accomplished and innovative professionals dedicated to advancing healthcare through ongoing scientific inquiry. With a sound reputation for excellence, our staff regularly conduct landmark clinical trials as well as investigator-initiated research that has contributed to the modern landscape of cardiovascular medicine. In order to build a fuller scientific perspective and any given research inquiry, our team represents multi-disciplinary, complementary professions including but not limited to:

  • Physicians
  • Research Scientists
  • Registered Nurses
  • Pharmacist
  • Technologists
  • Kinesiologists
  • Yoga and Exercise Specialists

Excellent research is a community effort

A global community, that is.

Cambridge Cardiac Care's research institute is an affiliation of like-minded investigators stemming from diverse specialties including Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology, Neurology, Nephrology, & Vascular Surgery as well as allied health disciplines including Rehab Medicine, Pharmacology and Psychology. As well, we have over 40-primary care physicians engaged as affiliates of our clinical research group. With such breadth of expertise, our team initiates novel studies: from protocol and study design to analysis and publication, all based on clinical observations that are inspired by the needs of our patient population. In addition to these investigator-initiated studies, Cambridge Cardiac Care has made a name for itself on the international cardiovascular research circuit, collaborating with the top medical research teams in the world. We are consistently held on par with such large, international institutions in our enrollment and completion scores.

Our world-renowned research partners include:

  • Cleveland Clinic
  • Duke University
  • Harvard Medical School
  • London Health Sciences Centre
  • Mayo Clinic
  • McMaster University
  • Montreal Heart Institute
  • Ottawa Heart Institute
  • Oxford University
  • University of Alberta
  • University of Toronto

Our Lead Investigator

Dr. A. Shekhar Pandey is our lead investigator. As an adult invasive, non-invasive and preventive cardiologist, an Assistant Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University and an ethics officer for the University of Waterloo Clinical Research Ethics Board, Dr. Pandey lends his robust clinical and research acumen to each of the investigations that come through Cambridge Cardiac Care.

Let’s work together!

The Cambridge Cardiac Care's Research Institute welcomes affiliation with research organizations, other research trials groups, and pharmaceutical companies to advance cardiovascular science. We are open to participate in new clinical trials that meet our criteria. Let’s talk!

Learn about the studies we have been conducting

The Cambridge Cardiac Care research team has been involved in hundreds of clinical trials over the years. See what we’ve been up to with a comprehensive list of past, ongoing and currently enrolling clinical trials.

View Research Studies

Our approach to clinical research

Patient Centered, Outcome Oriented, Advancing Cardiovascular Science

Our research staff are amazing. Amazing at what they do. Amazing at how they care for patients. Amazing at how they expand the therapeutic horizon. One day at a time. One patient at a time. Reach out to us to learn more: 1-519-624-3511

What sets our research institute apart?

Our track record, of course!

Cambridge Cardiac Care is often cited among the fastest recruiting, largest enrolling and highest retaining centres for cardiovascular research in Canada. Our unique phase-based team structure allows us to expedite approval for new studies in as little as 2-3 weeks.

Dr. Pandey

Our clinical research process is divided into 3 distinct phases.

We have a dedicated team assigned to each of the three phases of the research process:

  1. Logistics Phase: Trial start-up team
  2. Recruitment Phase: Patient enrollment team
  3. Late Phase: Patient retention, data collection and study close-out team.

Such a structure creates efficiencies on every level noted most profoundly by the quick turnaround of the start-up logistics phase.From the moment of contact, through our standard study review and operating procedures, source document development and ethics & regulatory submissions we are often able to secure internal approval in as little as 2-3 weeks. As well, Cambridge Cardiac Care has been cited among the largest and often fastest enrolling centres in Canada for many clinical trials.

Our Clinical Investigation Hub (CIH) areas include

  • Arrhythmias
  • Anticoagulants
  • Antihypertensives
  • Atherosclerosis and cardiometabolic disease
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Automated external defibrillators
  • Cardiac rehab & Risk-reversal: lifestyle therapies
  • Cardiometabolic diseases including pre-diabetes, metabolic syndrome and diabetes
  • Cholesterol management
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Diabetes
  • Device therapies
  • Heart failure
  • Hypertension
  • Medical information technology
  • Neurocognitive and psychological health impacts
  • Obesity
  • Valvular heart disease

Our Clinical Investigation Hubs (CIH)

Integrating research into the clinical setting allows multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate with both the private and government sectors, to secure investigation-specific resources, to address key knowledge gaps, and to facilitate sex, gender, ethnic and disability considerations when communicating with patient-partners. Each Clinical Investigation Hub (CIH) is dedicated to a specific area of study with unique research and team design, ultimately delivering the most scientifically sound and clinically relevant results possible. We have 5 full-time research coordinators consisting of 4 Registered Nurses and 1 cardiac pharmacist, in addition to 6 part-time nurses, a blood letting technologist, 7 ECG & stress testing cardiovascular technologists, and 3 echocardiogram / ultrasound technologists who all assist with trial work as necessary.

A community-based research facility with surprising breadth of capacity.

We believe that access to technology should never be the rate-limiting factor in scientific innovation and inquiry. As such, we continue to invest in research equipment that meets, and often exceeds, industry-standard.

  • - 20C freezers x 2
  • Medical grade refrigerators x 2
  • Ambient & temperature controlled centrifuges
  • ABPM
  • ECG
  • Echo
  • Holter
  • Spirometry
  • Stress Test
  • Stress Echo