Dr. John Floras

• 2018–present; Final Selection Committee, Schmidt Science Fellows
• 2015–present; Senior Clinician Scientist, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Toronto
• 2011–present; Member, Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto
• 2000–present; Senior Scientist, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto
• 1999–present; Director of Research, University Health Network and Mount Sinai Division of Cardiology, Toronto
• 1997–present; Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto 

Former appointments

• 2009–2015; Chairman, Board of Trustees, The Banting Research Foundation
• 2009–2025; Deputy Physician in Chief, Research, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto 
• 2001–2002; President, Canadian Hypertension Society
• 1995–1998; Head, Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health, Toronto
• 1991–1997; Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto
• 1985–1991; Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto

• Acting Director, Coronary Care Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto; 1986–1987
• Consultant Cardiologist, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto; 1985–1995
• Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Cardiology); 1983 
• Fellow Associate, Department of Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (post-doc), Iowa City, IA, USA; 1984–1985  
• PhD, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 1982 
• MD, University of Toronto, Toronto; 1977  

• 2020, 2021 – Carl Ludwig Distinguished Lectureship Award of the American Physiological Society Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation Section
• 2020 – Arthur C. Corcoran Memorial Lecturer, American Heart Association’s Council on Hypertension 
• 2019 – Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award
• 2019 – Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award
• 2014 – Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
• 2011 – Canadian Cardiovascular Society Research Achievement Award
• 2011 – University of Toronto Department of Medicine Research Award
• 2011 – Kenneth W.G. Brown Memorial Lecturer, University of Toronto Division of Cardiology
• 2010 – Fellow, European Society of Cardiology
• 2010 – Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health Distinguished Lecture and Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences
• 2006 – Appointed Archon (Actuarios) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Canada of the Greek Orthodox Church by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
• 2004–2018 – Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Integrative Cardiovascular Biology
• 2001 – Fellow of the American Heart Association  
• 1995 – University of Toronto Dept of Medicine William Goldie Prize and Travel Award
• 1990 – Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Medal in Medicine
• 1977–1980 – Rhodes Scholarship

Current themes of our Clinical Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory continue and extend our CIHR and Heart and Stroke Foundation projects concerning mechanisms for autonomic disequilibrium and their physiological consequences in women and men with heart failure, with a particular interest in sex-differences, and strategies to restore autonomic balance.

Applying the microneurographic method of quantifying efferent sympathetic discharge to resistance vessels in skeletal muscle to patients across the spectrum of heart failure and age and sex matched patients with related comorbidities and healthy volunteers, we study resting autonomic tone, exercise capacity, responses to stimulation or inhibition of cardio-pulmonary, muscle metabo- and peripheral and central chemoreceptor reflexes, and the impact of sleep apnea, exercise training, pharmacological interventions and non-invasive vagal stimulation on such responses.

Our collaboration with Dr. Susanna Mak, Director of the Posluns-Mecklinger Research Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, permits correlation of directly measured hemodynamics with our peripheral autonomic data. We envisage expanding our research to study cardiovascular health and disturbances across the adult female lifespan. 

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We are always looking for motivated researchers to join our team.

Postdocs 
Dr. Floras’ Clinical Cardiovascular Research Laboratory invites highly qualified candidates to apply for a postdoctoral research fellow position in the area of integrative human cardiovascular physiology, with an emphasis on cardiovascular autonomic regulation at rest and during exercise in health and disease. 

The successful candidate will help lead several studies focusing on elucidating mechanisms and functional consequences of cardiovascular autonomic disturbances in human heart failure. Interested candidates should have a strong background and career interest in integrative physiology, the autonomic nervous system, and cardiovascular regulation. The ability to perform microneurography is considered an asset. Experience performing human research is preferred. 

We seek specifically candidates with Fellowship Certification in Cardiology or Internal Medicine; individuals with a PhD or equivalent in Kinesiology, Physiology, or related disciplines, or with an MD Degree who are eligible for Educational Licensure by the College of Physicians of the Province of Ontario also are encouraged to apply. Interested candidates should send a cover letter detailing their relevant experience and research interests, an up-to-date curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information of at least 3 references to Dr. John Floras ([email protected]). Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.  

Graduate students  
Our research group is part of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at U of T, which requires that a supervisor be identified before admission to the graduate program. Graduate students interested in doing a PhD in the laboratory/group should first contact Dr. Floras directly ([email protected]).

Summer students  
Summer students are exclusively selected from successful applicants to the Research Training Center (RTC) at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. Applications are available online and need to be filled by February 28th of each year.