David Birnie

Dr. David Birnie is Vered Chair and Head, Division of Cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI). He was educated in Scotland and received his medical degree from Glasgow University in 1990. His clinical focus is on all aspects f cardiac electrophysiology, including ablation of complex arrhythmia and implantation and follow-up of device therapy. He also has a major clinical interest in cardiac sarcoidosis and coinitiated (in 2008) and still coleads Canada’s first dedicated cardiac sarcoidosis clinic. He is the cochair of the HRS guidelines on the diagnosis and management of cardiac sarcoidosis (published in 2014 and update due in 2026). Also, he is leading the first multicenter, multinational treatment trial for cardiac sarcoidosis (CHASM-CS-RCT). His major ongoing research interests are cardiac sarcoidosis, selection and optimization of CRT for heart failure patients, and investigating optimal strategies for complication reduction around EP procedures. In 2020 he was elected to the executive committee of the World Association of Sarcoidosis (WASOG).