Dr. George A. Wells

Biography

Overview 

George Wells, PhD, is Principal Investigator of the Cardiovascular Research Methods Centre at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Professor in the School of Epidemiology, and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Also at the University of Ottawa, he serves as Professor in the Department of Medicine and Senior Scientist Affiliate at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Background

Dr. Wells has worked extensively with national and international government and non-government research organizations, as well as private pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has been on the executive and steering committees of national and international research programs as well as on committees with the following focus: external safety and efficacy monitoring, scientific grant review, editorial, and scientific advisory. He is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology and on the Editorial Committee for the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Dr. Wells received the University of Ottawa Excellence in Research Award in 2014 and the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Distinguished Scientist Award in 2007. 

Dr. Wells is the author or co-author of over 900 published articles and 1000 scientific abstracts. He has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on over 280 research projects with research funding exceeding $180 million. He has made numerous national and international scientific presentations. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the university level for over 35 years and has supervised or co-supervised over 100 master or doctoral students.

Research & clinical interests

Dr. Wells’ research interests are in the design and analysis of clinical trials, statistical methodology related to disease processes and health care delivery, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, economic evaluations and the development and assessment of decision support technologies for patients and practitioners.

Latest publications

• Andrade, J., Deyell, M., Macle, L., Wells, G.A., Bennett, M., Essebag, V., Champagne, J., Roux, J-F., Yung, D., Skanes, A., Khaykin, Y., Morillo, C., Jolly, U., Novak, P., Lockwood, E., Amit, G., Angaran, P., Sapp, J., Wardell, S., Lauck, S., Cadrin-Tourigny, J., Kochhauser, S. and Verma, A., for the EARLY-AF Investigators, “Progression of Atrial Fibrillation after Cryoablation or Drug Therapy”.  New England Journal of Medicine, (DOI:  10.1056/NEJMoa2212540), November 2022.
• Alqurashi, W., Shaker, M., Wells, G.A., Collins, G., Greenhawt, M., Curran, J., Zernek, R., Schuh, S., Ellis, A., Gerdts, J., Kreviazuk, C., Dixon, A., Eltorki, M., Freedman, S., Gravel, J., Poonai, N. Worm, M. and Plint, A.,  “Canadian Anaphylaxis Network-Predicting Recurrence after Emergency Presentation for Allergic REaction (CAN-PREPARE):  a prospective, cohort study protocol”.  British Medical Journal (BMJ) (Open), (DOI:  10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061976), Vol. 12, No. 10, 1-9, October 2022.
• Reed, J., Terada, T., Vidal-Almela, S., Tulloch, H., Mistura, M., Birnie, D., Wells, G.A., Nair, G., Hans, H., Way, K., Chirico, D., O’Neill, C. and Pipe, A., “Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation:  A Randomized Controlled Trial”.  Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open, (DOI:  10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.39380), Vol, 5, No. 10, e2239380, October 2022.
• Bery, A., Sharma, M., Nemnom, M-J., Johns, P., Lelli, D., Sivilott, M., Emond, M., Stiell, I., Stotts, G., Lee, J., Worster, A., Morris, J., Cheung, K-W., Jin, A., Oczkowski, W., Sahlas, D., Murray, H., Mackey, A., Verreault, S., Camden, M-C., Yip, S., Teal, P., Gladstone, D., Boulos, M., Chagnon, N., Shouldice, E., Atzema, C., Slaoui, T., Teitelbaum, J., Wells, G.A. and Perry, J.,  “Risk of Stroke is Low After Transient Ischemic Attack Presentation with Isolated Dizziness”.  Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, (E-pub ahead of print - DOI:  10.1007/s43678-022-00391-0 – October 2022) 2022.
• Hazelwood, G., Scheir, O., Bykerk, V., Kamso, M., Tugwell, P., Wells, G.A., Richards, D., Proulx, L., Hull, P. and Bartlett, S., “Frequency of Symptomatic Adverse Events in Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Exploratory Online Survey”. Journal of Rheumatology and Clinical Highlights, (E-pub ahead of print – DOI:  org/10.3899/jrheum.210688 – March 2022), Vol. 49, No. 9, 998-1005, September 2022.
• Paterson, G., Gaboury, I., Bernick, J., Wells, G.A., Tugwell, P., Toupin-April, Karin, “A pragmatic pilot randomized controlled trial of the OA Go Away, a self-management intervention for promoting adherence to physical activity among individuals with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee”. Physiotherapy Canada, (E-pub ahead of print – August 2022), Vol. 24 E20200110, 1-8, September 2022.
• Khan, F., Bai, A., Kelly, S., Skidmore, B., Dickson, C., Nunn, A., Rutledge-Taylor, K. and Wells, G.A., “Effectiveness and Safety of Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Persons Exposed to Cases of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease:  A Systematic Review”.  Open Forum Infectious Diseases, (E-pub ahead of print - DOI:  org/10.1093/ofid/ofac244 - May 2022), Vol. 9, No. 8, 1-17, August 2022.
• Dewidar, O., Rader, T., Waddington, H., Nicholls, S., Little, J., Hardy, B-J., Horsley, T., Young, T., Cuervo, L., Sharp, M., Chamberlain, C., Shea, B., Craig, P., Lawson, D., Rizvi, A., Wiysonge, C., Kredo, T., Nguliefem, M., Ghogomu, E., Francis, D., Kristjansson, E., Bhutta, Z., Martin, A., Melendez-Torres, G., Pantoja, T., Wang, X., Jull, J., Hatcher Roberts, J., Funnel, S., White, H., Krentel, A., Mahande, M., Ramke, J., Wells, G.A., Petkovic, J., Tugwell, P., Pottie, K., Mbuagbaw, L. and Welch, V., “Reporting of Health Equity Considerations in Equity-Relevant Observational Studies:  Protocol for a Systematic Assessment”.  F1000 Research, (E-pub ahead of print - DOI:  org/10.12688/11000research.122185.1 – June 2022), Vol. 11, No. 615, 1-11, August 2022.

Papers in referred journals 

• Andrade, J., Macle, L., Bennett, M., Howkins, N., Essebag, V., Champagne, J., Roux, J-F., Makanjee, B., Tang, A., Skanes, A., Khaykin, Y., Morillo, C., Jolly, U., Lockwood, E., Amit, G., Angaran, P., Sapp, J., Wardell, S., Wells, G.A., Verma, A. and Deyell, M., "Randomized Trial of Conventional Versus Radiofrequency Needle Transseptal Puncture for Cryoballoon Ablation: The CRYO-LATS Trial".  Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology, (DOI:  org/10.1007/s10840-022-01277-y), 1-9, June 2022.
• Boczar, K., Shin, S., Bezzina, K., Geejo, A., Pearson, A., Shahab, S., Fehlmann, C., Visintini, S., Beanlands, R. and Wells, G.A., “Examining Anti-Inflammatory Therapies in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events:  Protocol for a Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials”.  British Medical Journal (BMJ) (Open), (DOI:  org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062702), Vol. 12, No. 6, e062702, 1-6, June 2022.
• Straus, S., Hutton, B., Moher, D., Kelly, S., Wells, G.A. and Tricco, A., “Providing Valid Evidence for Decision-Making:  the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network Methods and Applications Group in Indirect Comparisons (DSEN MAGIC)”.  FACETS, (DOI:  ORG/110.1139/FAETS-2021-0141), Vol. 7, 809-821, May 2022.
• Wells, G.A., Hsieh, S-C., Zheng, C., Peterson, J., Tugwell, P. and Liu, W., “Risendronate for the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures in Postmenopausal Women”.  The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2022, (DOI:  10.1002/14651858.CD004523.pub4), Issue 5, Art No. 5:  CD004523, 1-4, May 2022.
• Abdulaziz, K., Perry, J., Yadav, K., Dowlatshahi, D., Stiell, I., Wells, G.A. and Taljaard, M., “Quality and Transparency of Reporting Derivation and Validation Prognostic Studies of Recurrent Stroke in Patients with TIA and Minor Stroke:  A Systematic Review”.  Diagnostic and Prognostic Research, (DOI: org/110.1186/s41512-022-00123-z), Vol. 6, No. 9, 1-13, May 2022.
• Way, K., Birnie, D., Blanchard, C., Wells, G.A., Dorian, P., Jorstad, H., Daha, I., Suskin, N., Oh, P., Parkash, R., Poirier, P., Prince, S., Tulloch, H., Pipe, A., Hans, H., Wilson, J., Comeau, K., Vidal-Almela, S., Terada, T. and Reed, J., “The Physical Activity Levels and Sitting Time of Adults Living with Atrial Fibrillation:  The CHAMPLAIN-AF Study”.  Canadian Journal of Cardiology, (E-pub ahead of print – DOI: org/10.1016/j.cjco.2022.01.004 – January 2022), Vol. 4, No. 5, 449-465, May 2022.
• Goh, C., Parlow, S., Di Santo, P., Simard, T., Jung, R., Ahmed, Z., Verreault-Julien, L., Kuhar, P., Chan, V., Al-Atassi, T., Toeg, H., Bernick, J., Wells, G.A., Ruel, M. and Hibbert, B., “Utility of a Smartphone Application in Assessing Palmar Circulation Prior to Radial Artery Harvesting for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting:  Rationale and Design of the Randomized CAPITAL iRADIAL-CABG TRIAL”.  British Medical Journal (BMJ), (E-pub ahead of print – DOI:  org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055580 – March 2022), Vol. 12, No. 4, e055580, April 2022.
• Yousef (Abdelrazeq), S., Colman, I., Papadimitropoulos, M., Manuel, D., Hossain, A., Faris, M. and Wells, G.A., “Vitamin D and Chronic Diseases among First-Generation Immigrants:  A Large-Scale Study using Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) Data”.  Nutrients, (E-pub ahead of print – DOI:  org/10.3390/nul4091760 – April 2022), Vol. 14, No. 9, 1760, 1-18, May 2022.