Affiliation: Sunnybrook Research Institute

Dr. Nilesh Ghugre is a Scientist in the Schulich Heart Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. He received his Master's and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. His research utilizes advanced cardiac MRI biomarkers to characterize the post-acute myocardial infarct (or heart attack) remodeling process and determine efficacy of novel therapeutic interventions to prevent heart failure. To this end, he is involved in exploring novel experimental models that represent clinical manifestation of heart disease and new therapeutic targets that can alleviate injury in the heart. His lab is developing quantitative MRI tools (T1, T2, T2*, DTI) to probe cardiac pathophysiology parameters, including viability, edema, inflammation, hemorrhage, and microvascular integrity and function/structure. More recently, he has been advancing image-guidance technologies for cardiac regenerative medicine. The aim is to develop image-based technologies that will facilitate accurate and minimally invasive cell delivery to the injured region of the heart, and visualize delivery success, tissue response, and outcomes, all within the same framework. His lab projects are supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration (NFRF-E), and the University of Toronto Medicine by Design (MbD) program.