Peter Backx

Peter Backx is a Full Professor in the Department of Biology at York University and Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Biology. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the University Health Network. His academic journey includes a B.Sc., M.Sc., DVM (University of Guelph), and Ph.D. (University of Calgary), followed by postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on cardiac physiology, ion channels, arrhythmias, and stem cell applications in cardiovascular biology.

Dr. Backx has secured over $14M in research funding and published over 200 articles in top journals. He has supervised 26 graduate students and 17 postdoctoral fellows. His awards include Fellowships from the Royal Society of Canada and American Heart Association, as well as the Lowell Langille Mentorship Award. His work emphasizes mechanisms underlying heart disease, including atrial fibrillation and heart failure, with a focus on translational applications like tissue-specific drug delivery.

Key research areas include ion transport, myocardial signaling, and cardiac development using pluripotent stem cells. He has pioneered models of atrial fibrillation and engineered cardiac tissues. Recent studies explore TNF-alpha’s role in exercise-induced atrial remodeling and therapeutic strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dr. Backx’s labs integrate electrophysiology, proteomics, and tissue engineering to advance cardiovascular medicine.