Calgary-based division first of its kind in Canada

Heart transplant physicians have a unique opportunity for collaboration and mentorship thanks to the new Division of Transplant Medicine.

Headed by the Libin Cardiovascular Institute’s Dr. Debra Isaac, MD, a cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure, cardiac transplantation and echocardiography, the division enhances the decade-old Southern Alberta Transplant Program, providing a more formalized network and improving educational, research and clinical opportunities for the 28 physicians involved.

“This is the first Division of Transplant Medicine in Canada,” says Isaac. “We have some amazing, talented and compassionate physicians in the group, and I think we can be leaders. This is an incredible opportunity.”

Besides heart transplant specialists, this new division includes physicians specializing in caring for advanced stage kidney, lung and liver patients before and after surgery. Although cardiac transplants are not done in Calgary, heart transplant patients require months and years of pre-surgical care and a lifetime of follow-up support.

It’s an area Isaac, who has been the medical director of the Southern Alberta Transplant Program since 2018 and is involved in transplant medicine and organ donation at a national level as a founding member and past president of the Canadian Cardiac Transplant Network, is very familiar with.

“Regardless of where surgeries occur, caring for patients before and after surgery is critical,” says Isaac. “Ultimately, our job is to help patients live longer and to improve their quality of life.”

In addition to physicians, other professionals, such as psychiatrists, dermatologists, endocrinologists, infectious disease specialists and physiotherapists, are involved in the complex care of transplant patients and are involved in the new division.

Physicians benefitting from the new division will also continue with their current specific divisions, meaning that heart transplant physicians will still be engaged with the Department of Cardiac Sciences. This will add value to the department, says Isaac.

“Creating a division is really a lot of hard work but it provides an opportunity to support members in pursuing their goals in transplant medicine,” says Isaac, a clinical heart failure research program collaborator. “We are especially excited about the opportunities to enhance our academic training program and research programs.”

Although patients likely won’t notice any big changes in how they are cared for right away, the new division will provide a research home for its highly specialized members, ultimately improving care over the long term.

Dr. Carlos Morillo, MD, section chief of the Division of Cardiology (DOC), says division members are very of this new initiative and expect to continue collaborating to improve transplant patient care and outcomes.

"The DOC congratulates Dr. Isaac, one of our senior members, on becoming the head of the first Division of Transplant across Canada,” says Morillo. “The DOC is proud that all the members of our Advanced Heart Failure Affinity group have been cross-appointed with this new and exciting Division."

Dr. Debra Isaac is a clinical professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences and Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine. She is Division Head of the Division of Transplant Medicine and Medical Director of the Southern Alberta Transplant Program at Alberta Health Services. She is a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute.

Dr. Carlos Morillo, MD, is a professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine. He is the section chief of the Division of Cardiology. He is a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute.