John Coles

Senior Clinician-Scientist
Translational Medicine

Dr. John Coles joined the team at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in 1984 as a consulting staff surgeon, taking on a position in the Research Institute in 1990.  He also works in the academic community as a professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. The research environment is very supportive of the clinical aspects of SickKids, which is why Dr. Coles enjoys working here. As both a researcher and a surgeon, he is a witness to how research can influence clinical care.

Research

In the past six years, Dr. Coles' research program encompassed two major themes targeting unsolved problems in congenital heart disease:

• Regenerative medicine, focusing on ventricular failure in hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)
• Drug discovery campaign, developing drugs targeting ILK-parvin protein-protein interface (PPI) to treat cardiac fibrosis

Dr. Coles received three Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants and a major award from the University of Toronto Lab150 program during the past five years in support of these programs, as well as support directed to the Regen Med program from within the Division of Cardiac Surgery, the Labatt Family Heart Centre, and philanthropic funds from a donor family.

Education and experience

• 2018–Present: CVS Clinical Fellowship Coordinator, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2003–Present: Professor, Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 1990–Present: Senior Clinician-Scientist, Translational Medicine Program, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON
• 1984–Present: Staff CV Surgeon, Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 1984: Post-Fellowship, Pediatric Cardiovascular Research, University of Alabama, Birmingham
• 1983–1984: R.S. McLaughlin Research Fellow, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 1983: Chief Resident, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 1982: Chief Resident, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON
• 1981–1982: Resident, Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 1980-1981: Fellowship, Cardiovascular Research Laboratories, Ontario Heart Foundation Senior Research Fellowship, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 1977-1980: Resident, General and Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Western Ontario, London, ON
• 1976: MD, University of Western Ontario, London, ON
• 1972: B.Sc., Natural Science, University of Western Ontario, London, ON

Achievements

• 2023: PhD Supervisory Committee, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2018–2022: PhD External Examiner, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• 2018: Reviewer, CSCP HSFO Competition, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
• 2016: Examiner, Royal College
• 2013-2016: Reviewer, Scientific Review Committee, Heart and Stroke Foundation

1. Traister A, Patel R, Huang A, Patel S, Plakhotnik J, Lee JE, Medina MG, Welsh C, Ruparel P, Zhang L, Friedberg M, Maynes J, Coles J. Cardiac regenerative capacity is age- and disease-dependent in childhood heart disease. PLoS One. 2018 Jul 25;13(7):e0200342.
2. Traister A, Lu M, Coles JG, Maynes JT. Dataset of integrin-linked kinase protein: Protein interactions in cardiomyocytes identified by mass spectrometry. Data Brief. 2016 Mar 19;7:1148-50.
3. Traister A, Li M, Aafaqi S, Lu M, Arab S, Radisic M, Gross G, Guido F, Sherret J, Verma S, Slorach C, Mertens L, Hui W, Roy A, Delgado-Olguin P, Hannigan G, Maynes JT, Coles JG. Integrin-linked kinase mediates force transduction in cardiomyocytes by modulating serca2a/pln function. Nat Commun. 2014;5:4533
4. Traister RS, Fajt ML, Whitman-Purves E, Anderson WC, Petrov AA. A retrospective analysis comparing subjects with isolated and coexistent vocal cord dysfunction and asthma. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2013 Jul-Aug;34(4):349-55. 
5. Traister A, Aafaqi S, Masse S, Dai X, Li M, Hinek A, Nanthakumar K, Hannigan G, Coles JG. Ilk induces cardiomyogenesis in the human heart. PloS one. 2012;7:e37802