Rhian Touyz
Dr. Rhian Touyz is a Canadian medical researcher. She is currently serving as the Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Canada, since 2021. A clinician scientist, her research primarily focuses on hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Rhian Touyz, is the Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. She is the Dr. Phil Gold Chair in Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She was recruited to Montreal in September 2021 after serving 10 years as the Director of the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences (ICAMS) and British Heart Foundation Chair and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Dr. Touyz, a clinician-scientist, received her BSc(Hons)(1980), MBBCh(1984), MSc(1986) and PhD(1992) in South Africa. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM) in 1996 and then progressed the scientific/academic ladder to become Staff Scientist and Professor in the CRIM. In 2005 she was recruited to the Kidney Research Centre, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Univeristy of Ottawa, where she was the Canada Research Chair in Hypertension Tier 1, until 2011 when she was recruited to the University of Glasgow to direct ICAMS.
She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FRCP), American Heart Association (FAHA), European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS).
Dr. Touyz serves on scientific advisory boards and expert panels of numerous international institutions including the Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin; INSERM, L'Unite de Recherche de L'Institut du Thorax, Nantes, France ; Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Research Center,USA; MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, UK; the Wellcome Trust Physiology in Health and Disease, UK and Imperial College BHF Centre of Research Excellence, London UK.
She has played major leadership roles in the premier national and international hypertension and cardiovascular organisations. She was President of the Canadian Hypertension Society (2007-2008), Chair of the High Blood Pressure Research Council (AHA) (2010-2012), President of the International Society of Hypertension (2014-2016) and President of the European Council for Cardiovascular Research (2019-2021). She was the founder and Chair of the ‘Women in Hypertension Research Network’ of the International Society of Hypertension, the mission of which is to encourage, support and inspire women in science and medicine in the field of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases and to facilitate new avenues for communication, collaboration and education. She is the editor-in-chief of Hypertension, past editor-in-chief of Clinical Science, and associate editor of Pharmacological Reviews.
She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Dahl Award (American Heart Association (AHA)), Harriet Dustan Research Award (AHA), Robert M. Berne Distinguished Award (American Physiological Society), Distinguished Scientist Award (Hypertension Canada), RD Wright Award (BP Research Council, Australia), Irvine Page Award (American Society of Hypertension), Joan Mott Award (Physiology Society) and the Research Excellence Award, the premier international award in hypertension research (Council on Hypertension, AHA).
As a clinician, Dr. Touyz works in Hypertension Clinics, where she provides comprehensive clinical care to patients with hypertension and associated co-morbidities. She has a particular interest in managing patients with resistant, severe or complex hypertension. She is also actively involved in contributing to best clinical practice and co-chaired the Canadian Hypertension Education Program for clinical guidelines and is a current member of the Committee for Practice Guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology.
In addition to her clinical and scientific activities, she is an inspirational leader and passionate mentor and teacher and has trained over 100 PhD and MD students and fellows, in basic, translational and clinical research. Many of her trainees have gone on to successful independent academic and clinical careers.