Research Stories

Even as a child Nadia Giannetti was drawn to medicine, and went to work in a hospital the first chance she got, volunteering as a candy striper at the Montreal General Hospital while in high school. She went on to receive  her MD from McGill University in 1991, then completed a Fellowship in Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation at Stanford University in California. Born and raised in Montreal, she always knew she’d come back home, as her ultimate goal was to join the MUHC.

Dr. Giannetti’s specialities include advanced heart failure, heart transplant, and mechanical-hearts , making the MUHC, as a tertiary and quaternary care hospital, the ideal place for her to practice. With the mandate of the new hospital to provide care for the most complicated cases, those that require hospitalization, complex surgery, emergency care, or specialized treatment, Dr.Giannetti and her team are equipped to offer some of the most advanced cardiology care. The high-tech environment, featuring cutting-edge equipment and single patient rooms, is already improving care and outcomes for her patients.

Other innovations include the clinical research Dr. Giannetti and others conduct. It gives them access to treatments including highly specialized devices and medications in their early stages, which allows them to offer top quality care to  patients. Sometimes the sickest patients’ best hopes lie with experimental therapies.

“This is an exciting time for us in Cardiology,” she states. “Over the past 15 to 20 years the Cardiology Division of the MUHC has recruited a number of highly-trained physicians who are leaders in their fields. This expertise allows us to be a referral centre for many hospitals in Quebec, particularly in the areas of cardiovascular complex care including advanced imaging, advanced percutaneous interventions, complex congenital heart disease, transplant, mechanical hearts and electrophysiology.”

As an associate professor at McGill University, Dr. Giannetti is also training the next generation of cardiologists. Along with her colleagues, fellows and students, she’s helped develop an educational App, called Virtual Cardiology, in conjunction with McGill University and Université Laval. This unique App simulates one-on-one teaching by academic cardiologists through short video clips.

But there’s more to Dr. Giannetti than her outstanding work as a Cardiologist. She’s also a mother of four children ranging in age from five to sixteen, and she enjoys sailing in her spare time. She’s made fundraising for the MUHC a priority as well. Last year, along with her colleagues in interventional cardiology she helped to make Le Bal Rouge Cardiology Gala a success. This year she was honoured at Say Goodbye to Heartache, which was a great success.

If you’d like to support the Cardiology Division of the MUHC, click here.