8
LIBIN LIFE
She’s got
heart
By Dawn Smith
D
r. Anne Gillis, a Professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, has had an amazing career spanning more than 30 years. She is known internationally for her numerous impacts on the field of cardiac electrophysiology, a subspecialty of cardiology focused on heart rhythm problems.
The clinician-scientist has been recognized numerous times by her peers. Notably, she was the 2018 recipient of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Achievement Award, given in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding contributions. Gillis became interested in cardiovascular pharmacology during her second year of medical school at Dalhousie in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Her passion for cardiology, and in the then-emerging subspecialty of electrophysiology, grew with exposure and was clinched when she completed an elective in the Coronary Care Unit of Victoria General Hospital in Halifax. Attracted by the research environment, the people, and the proximity to hiking and skiing in the Rocky Mountains, Gillis came
