Celebrating the winners of the Courtois AI2 Innovation Awards!

The MUHC Foundation is proudly celebrating another year of blue-sky innovation in the MUHC’s Cardiology Department, recognized by the Courtois AI2 Innovation Fund: Accelerate, Incubate, Innovate. A generous $500,000 donation from the Courtois Foundation is funding this incredible initiative, driving cutting-edge research, and empowering the MUHC’s brilliant cardiology researchers with all the resources they need to fix broken hearts.

As always, the selection process proved to be difficult, as every single project that was put forward featured innovative ideas that underscore the talent of the MUHC’s heart experts and push the boundaries of modern medicine. From improving outcomes in open-heart surgery to cutting-edge stem cell research and preventing heart failure, the winners of the 2025 AI2 awards all have one thing in common: they strive to advance personalized heart care, recognizing that every heart is unique.

Together, these bold ideas are positioning the MUHC as a global leader in cutting-edge cardiology research and care.

We hope you’ll join us in congratulating the 2025 winners:

1st Prize: Dr. Martin L. Bernier 

• Assistant Professor of Medicine, McGill University 
• Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Program, MUHC

Dr. Bernier is testing a new heart treatment using radiation for patients with severe heart failure to see if low dose radiation can regenerate heart function.

2nd Prize: Dr. Patrick Lawler 

• Clinician-Scientist and Associate Professor, McGill University
• Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), MUHC 

Dr. Lawler is developing a new test to predict how the immune system responds to heart surgery and /or serious illness which may open new pathways to treatment of critically ill patients.

3rd Prize: Abhinav Sharma MD, PhD 

• Assistant Professor and MDCM-PhD Program Director, McGill University
• Director, Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Program and Co-Director, DECIDE-CV Cardiometabolic Program, MUHC

Dr. Sharma is studying how type 2 diabetes affects the heart, using advanced techniques to understand the different ways the disease impacts people, and how treatments can be personalized.

4th Prize : Dr. Thao Huynh 

• Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, MUHC 
• Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University 

Dr. Huynh is advancing understanding and treatment of heart disease across different racial groups, in order to improve cardiovascular outcomes in groups that are traditionally underrepresented in clinical trials.

All winners were welcomed at the MUHC Foundation’s Glen Office, where the awards were presented by the MUHC’s Director of Cardiology, Dr. Atul Verma. Dr. Verma has taken the helm of the Cardiology department at the MUHC with unrivaled dedication and expertise.

“Each initiative represents the future of cardiology at the MUHC and is a testament to the groundbreaking work being done in the department, which is the beating heart of cardiac research and innovation in Quebec,” shares Dr. Atul Verma, MUHC Director of Cardiology.

Each winner should be incredibly proud of their achievements and know that they are contributing to the MUHC’s legacy of excellence in research and patient care. The MUHC Foundation is incredibly grateful to the Courtois Foundation for their desire to drive innovative cardiac research in Quebec.

Together, we’re changing the course of medicine and showing up for every heart.

Previous winners of the AI2 Innovation Awards

2024:

1st Prize:

• Dr. Abhinav Sharma & Dr. Patrick Lawler

2nd Prize:

• Dr. Patrick Lawler

3rd Prize tie between:

• Dr. Jacques Genest & Dr. Iulia Iatan

• Dr. Jacqueline Joza & Dr. Vidal Essebag