Dr. Naranjan Dhalla is a renowned researcher and academic in the field of experimental cardiology. Throughout his extensive career, he has made significant contributions to our understanding of the pathophysiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and molecular biology of cardiac dysfunction. He has demonstrated that defects in the way that heart cells handle calcium, as well as remodeling of subcellular structures, play a critical role in heart failure, diabetic cardiomyopathy, and ischemic heart disease.
Dr. Dhalla's groundbreaking research has formed the metabolic, subcellular, and molecular basis of cardiac dysfunction and identified new targets for drug development to treat heart disease.
Dr. Dhalla was awarded his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965 and served as an assistant professor at St. Louis University for two years before joining the University of Manitoba's Max Rady College of Medicine in 1968. Over the years, he rose to the rank of full professor and served as founding director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg for 19 years.
In addition, he was a driving force behind the International Society for Heart Research, serving as secretary general and later president, and has been the executive director of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences since 1996.
For over three decades, Dr. Dhalla has served as editor-in-chief of the international journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, and has been invited to speak at conferences and institutions around the world, offering over 500 talks. He has edited 64 books and trained 166 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students in biochemical and molecular medicine. With over 800 published research papers and more than 30,000 citations, he has made an invaluable contribution to the field of heart research.
Dr. Dhalla has received 212 honors and awards, including seven honorary doctorate degrees and four honorary professorships from universities around the world.
He was awarded the Order of Manitoba in 2002, became a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2000, and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1997.
Dr. Dhalla is also a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and has been honored as a Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba.
He remains a passionate and dedicated researcher, constantly seeking new ways to improve our understanding of heart disease and develop new treatments to help those affected.