Zari Dastani

After completing her MD, Dr. Dastani pursued a PhD in Molecular Genetics at McGill University. During her PhD studies, she contributed to the identification of several loci for the HDL-C trait. She also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Genetic Epidemiology at the Jewish General Hospital, during which she led a large multi-national project by organizing the ADIPOGen Consortium. As part of this project, she facilitated the collection of genome-wide association data from 31 cohorts from around the world. Her research identified new loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type ll diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Her research has given rise to several publications and presentations at prestigious international meetings. She has authored more than 30 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and three book chapters, and she is currently a reviewer for several scientific journals. Dr. Dastani is the recipient of many research awards, including a postdoctoral fellowship award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), a Doctoral Research Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), the Colonel Edward T. Renouf Research Fellowship award, the Jeannette and Abram Victor Memorial Scholarship, and the Sarah Strathmore Award. When she was an anatomical pathology resident (McGill), she completed two projects involving cancer research, one of which was awarded at the annual research meeting of the McGill Department of Pathology.