Heart institute names new chief of rehab, prevention
At a time when there is a growing focus on women and heart health, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute has appointed the first female division chief in its history to head its prevention and rehabilitation program.
Dr. Thais Coutinho, 35, also becomes the youngest person to head a division at the heart institute. She is taking over the high profile role from Dr. Andrew Pipe who, she jokes, is “the most loved man in Ottawa.”
Coutinho was trained as an MD in her native Brazil and studied internal medicine, cardiology, vascular medicine and advanced echocardiography at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She joined the heart institute in 2013 as a staff cardiologist and researcher.
She said she will make a focus on women’s heart health one of her priorities as head of prevention and rehabilitation. She takes over her new role starting Monday.
The heart institute opened a Women’s Heart Health Centre in 2014, in recognition of the fact that cardiovascular disease awareness, treatment and prevention for women continues to lag behind that for men.
Coutinho noted that cardiac rehabilitation is an area in which the majority of women do not participate. No more than 20 to 25 per cent of women say yes to cardiac rehab programs, she said. Well over half of men who have heart attacks sign up for cardiac rehabilitation. The programs make a big difference to a patient’s future health.
“We know the benefits are fantastic for men and for women, including decreasing future risk of heart attack and death,” she said.
She said there will be a focus on finding out what the barriers are to more women enrolling and what changes in the program might encourage more women to join.
More women die from cardiovascular disease in North America every year than men, yet for years heart disease was seen as a men’s issue.
That is changing, but the outcomes for women are still worse than for men, including for prevention, symptom recognition, proper diagnosis and outcome, said Coutinho.
Coutinho said it was mentorship that drew her to work in the field of cardiovascular disease.
She has received numerous awards, including the Canadian Cardiology Society’s Young Investigator Award in Clinical Research and the American Heart Association’s Young Investigator and Women in Cardiology awards.
She steps into a role developed by Pipe, who is considered Canada’s foremost experts on smoking cessation. He played a key role in the development of the Ottawa model for smoking cessation at the Heart Institute, which is now used around the world.
Pipe is also national recognized as an expert in cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity and health. He will continue at the heart institute and will further his research as principal investigator.
The heart institute’s division of prevention and rehabilitation offers state-of-the-art approaches to preventing additional cardiac events and helping patients return to their lives after heart attacks and cardiac procedures.