Mark David Peterson 

MD, PhD

Dr. Peterson has focused his clinical activity in two primary areas: structural heart intervention and complex aortic surgery and valve repair.  The structural heart program that was developed at St. Michael’s Hospital is a collaborative and highly innovative team, whereby cardiac surgeons and interventional cardiologists work seamlessly together among a wide group of health care professionals.  This group has performed some highly innovative procedures that were ‘first-in-human’ such as the Evoque transcatheter tricuspid valve replacement and currently treats some of the most difficult and challenging transcatheter valve procedures. 

Dr. Peterson also leads a large volume complex aortic surgery program that is also modeled around wrap-around care delivered in a multidisciplinary team.  The aortic program is a center of excellence for patients with acute and chronic aortic pathologies, offers cutting-edge and evidenced based surgical and endovascular treatment from the aortic valve to the iliac bifurcation.  The primary focus is on reconstructive techniques for the aortic valve/root (including valve repair, valve sparing root replacement and the Ross Procedure), minimally invasive techniques and advancement of novel hybrid and fully endovascular technologies. The aortic clinic offers a multidisciplinary, multispecialty program to provide wrap-around care for these patients, including patients with connective tissue disorders and heritable aortopathies.

Dr. Peterson is involved in several important collaborative research groups at the local, national and international levels, including IRAD (International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection), CTAC (Canadian Thoracic Aortic Collaborative), industry sponsored trials, and the Toronto Aortic Collaborative (TAC).   The IRAD group recently published its 100^th work from the data amassed on Type A and B aortic dissection, from the international contributing centers.  Additionally, as a founding member and active contributor to (CTAC), Dr. Peterson has been involved in numerous papers focusing on the management of patients with aortic diseases who have underwent aortic surgery.  He also was awarded a research grant to study and develop improved care algorithms for patients with acute aortic syndromes in the Greater Toronto Area (TAC-CALL).  Additionally, he pioneered work to developed a direct innominate cannulation and perfusion strategy to protect the brain during aortic operations requiring circulatory arrest, that led to one of the largest randomized trials in aortic surgery focused on differential neuroprotective strategies during aortic arch (the ACE Trial).  This study has the largest imaging database of patients with diffusion weighted MRI both pre and post aortic surgery, which is the substrate for future research.

Dr. Peterson has partnered with Dr. Neil Fam to form the St. Michael Hospital structural heart research group.  They are actively participating in more than 10 industry sponsored, as well as 7 investigator led trials.  These studies primarily focus on improving treatment for established interventions such as TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement), as well as evaluating the feasibility, safety and efficacy of novel transcatheter valve devices and repair techniques. 

INTERNATIONAL

2004 Apr Philip K. Caves Award, Recipient, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, San Francisco, CA, United States. (Distinction, Specialty: Cardiothoracic Transplantation/Immunology).  Award for best paper/presentation by trainee in cardiothoracic transplantation at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Annual Meeting. Total Amount: 1,000 USD

2003 - 2005 Laszlo N. Tauber Research Grant, Recipient, Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education (TSFRE), Beverly, Massachusetts, United States. (Research Award, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology). Support Fellowship Training and PhD Studies. Total Amount: 50,000 USD

NATIONAL 

2004 - 2005 Training Award in Regenerative Medicine, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Research Award, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  PhD Research Fellowship Award. Total Amount: 45,000 CAD

2003 - 2004 Training Award in Regenerative Medicine, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Research Award, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  PhD Research Fellowship Award. Total Amount: 20,000 CAD

2003 Basic Science Trainee Award, Recipient, Canadian Society of Transplantation, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Cardiothoracic Transplantation/Immunology).  Total Amount: 1,000 CAD

2002 - 2003 J&J Medical Products Fellowship Award, Recipient, Johnson and Johnson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Research Award, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  Total Amount: 25,000 CAD

LOCAL

2021 - 2025 Walter and Maria Schroeder Foundation Award.  Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Total Amount: $1,000,000.00 ($200,000.00/year for five years).  This award was given to MD Peterson to support research in Aortic and Transcatheter Heart Valve Surgery.

2017 - 2020 Walter and Maria Schroeder Foundation Award.  Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Total Amount: $1,000,000.00 ($250,000.00/year for four years).  This award was given to MD Peterson to support research in Aortic and Transcatheter Heart Valve Surgery.

*Note – Award from Walter and Marie Schroeder Foundation spans from 2017-2025, for a total award value of $2,000,000.00                                                

2004 Laidlaw Competition/Runner-up, University of Toronto/Institute of Medical Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  Best paper/presentation by a graduate student in the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto.

2004 Postgraduate Award:  Chisholm Memorial Fellowship, University of Toronto/Postgraduate Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  Total Amount: 3,500 CAD

2004 Postgraduate Award:  Graham Campbell Fellowship, University of Toronto/Postgraduate Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology).  ($14 000.00 for all three Postgraduate Awards). Total Amount: 14,000 CAD

2004 Postgraduate Award:  Joseph M. Family West Memorial Fund, Unique recipient, University of Toronto/Posgraduate Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology)
Total Amount: 3,500 CAD

2003 Postgraduate Award:  Edie Steinberg Scholarship Fund, University of Toronto/Postgraduate Medicine, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology). Total Amount: 3,500 CAD

2003 Postgraduate Award:  Joseph M. Family West Memorial Fund, Recipient, University of Toronto/Postgraduate Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology)
Total Amount: 3,500 CAD 

2001 Surgical Alumni Fellowship Graduate Scholarship Award, Recipient, University of Toronto/Department of Surgery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Research Award, Specialty: Inflammatory Cell Biology/Transplant Immunology). Total Amount: 14,000 CAD

1996 Frost Medal & Scholarship, Recipient, The University of Manitoba/Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Distinction, Specialty: Cardiovascular Anesthesiology). Best clinical B.Sc. Med Thesis.

1996 Nicholson Prize, The University of Manitoba/Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Distinction) B.Sc. Med. Thesis with greatest scientific merit.

1995 Morris Neaman Scholarship, Recipient, The University of Manitoba/Faculty of Medicine, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

(Distinction, Specialty: Cardiovascular Anesthesiology). Excellence in the first year of B.Sc. Med.

1991 - 1994 Dean’s Top Honor List, Recipient, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Distinction). Median mark in Undergraduate University of >85%.

Dr. Peterson Publications

1. Harris KM, Neinaber CA, Peterson MD, Woznicki EM, Braverman AC, Trimarchi S, Myrmel T, Pyeritz R, Hutchison S, Strauss C, Ehrlich MP, Gleason TG, Korach A, Montgomery DG, Isselbacher EM, Keagle KA. Early mortality in Type A acute aortic dissection: Insights from the IRAD Registry. In-Press JAMA 2022. (Co-Author).
2. Mazine A, Dhingra NK, Chu MWA, El-Hamamsy I, Peterson MD. Total Arch Replacement: How I Teach It. Ann Thorac Surg. 2021 Dec 17:S0003-4975(21)02118-4. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2021.11.035. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34929142. Invited Paper (Senior Author).
3. Peterson MD, Garg V, Mazer CD, Chu MWA, Bozinovski J, Dagenais F, MacArthur RGG, Ouzounian M, Quan A, Jüni P, Bhatt DL, Marotta TR, Dickson J, Teoh H, Zuo F, Smith EE, Verma S, on behalf of the ACE CardioLink-3 Trial Working Group. A Randomized Trial Comparing Axillary vs. Innominate Artery Cannulation for Aortic Arch Surgery. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2020 Dec 1; S0022-5223(20)33143-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2020.10.152. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33431219. (Principal Author)
4. Chu MWA, Ouzounian M, El-Hamamsy I, Peterson MD; Canadian Thoracic Aortic Collaborative (CTAC). Commentary: COVID-19 and acute aortic dissection: So many questions, so few answers. JTCVS Tech. 2020 Oct 29. doi: 10.1016/j.xjtc.2020.10.039. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33163978. (Senior Author).
5. Lecker I, Wang D, Romaschin AD, Peterson M, Mazer CD, Orser B. Tranexamic acid concentrations associated with human seizures inhibit glycine receptors. J Clin Invest. 2012 Dec;122(12):4654-66. doi: 10.1172/JCI63375. Epub 2012 Nov 26. PMID: 23187124. (Co-Author).

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