Robert Roberts MD, MACC, FRSC, FRCPC

Robert Roberts, MD, has advanced health care throughout the world as a cardiologist who brought molecular biology and genetics to heart disease through his work co-discovering more than 60 genes related to coronary artery disease and developing the quantitative test that’s been used to diagnose heart attacks for three decades.

Dr. Roberts is a renowned physician who has trained more than 400 cardiologists and was included in “Best Doctors in America” from 1985–2004. Dr. Roberts’ career as a geneticist and cardiologist includes leading the cardiology department at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston for 23 years and as President and CEO of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, UOHI, where he completed two five-year terms.

Under Dr. Roberts’ leadership, he founded and directed the Ruddy Canadian Cardiovascular Genetics Centre and established the Research Methods Centre. UOHI achieved world recognition for its research impact and ranked in the top two percent of 3,043 institutions worldwide.

Among Dr. Roberts’ accomplishments, the most notable include developing the MBCK quantitative test, which has been the gold standard to diagnose heart attacks for three decades. He also discovered several genes responsible for heart disease, including the first gene for atrial fibrillation, WPW Syndrome and Coronary Artery Disease (9p21), along with co-discovering more than 60 genes associated with CAD.