Heyu Ni
PhD, MD, MSc, FCAHS
Senior scientist
Other Titles/Affiliations:
Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology; Department of Physiology, and Department of Medicine University of Toronto
Research areas
- platelet biology
- immunohematology
- hemostasis
- thrombosis
- autoimmune and alloimmune thrombocytopenias
Related Links
Brief biography
Dr. Heyu Ni completed his MD and intern residence at Anhui Medical University (China). He then switched his career to research, completed his MSc in Microbiology and Immunology and was appointed as an assistant professor at Anhui Medical University. He completed his PhD of Immunology at the University of Manitoba, and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School before he joined Canadian Blood Services/University of Toronto in 2001.
In addition to his outstanding research program, Dr. Ni is also an accomplished educator with many graduate and post-doctoral students being mentored through his laboratory. Many of these trainees have become principal investigators, independent scientists, and clinician researchers worldwide.
Dr. Ni has received numerous awards in research and teaching including the prestigious CIHR Foundation grant, CIHR Distinguished Lecturer/Scientific Excellence Award in Blood and Blood Vessel Sciences, Fellow of Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and undergraduate/graduate education awards, University of Toronto.
Research interests
Dr. Heyu Ni has a long-term research program in platelets and thrombosis, investigating platelet physiology and immunology to develop new diagnostic methods and treatments for clotting disorders, alloimmune and autoimmune disorders. His particular focus is investigating the adhesion molecules involved in clot formation. His research into autoimmune thrombocytopenia, fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia, as well as the role of fibrinogen-independent platelet aggregation in clotting are important contributions to medical science and transfusion medicine.
Dr. Ni utilizes several state-of-the-art techniques such as confocal intravital microscopy, photoacoustic imaging, proteomics and single cell sequence as well as other molecular/cellular methods and animal models to discover pathogenesis and new diagnostic/therapeutic strategies for these clotting and auto-/alloimmune disorders.
Dr. Ni’s research projects have been funded through Canadian Blood Services, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) project and CIHR Foundation (7 years) grants.
Other appointments
Dr. Ni acts as a reviewer for more than 40 scientific journals including New England Journal Medicine, Nature and Science family journals, Blood, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Circulation, Circulation Research, Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Haematologica, and Transfusion. He is on the editorial board for several journals and is currently the deputy editor for a Science partner journal: Research.
He sits on various scientific and award committees and granting agencies in Canada (CIHR, HSFC, NSFC-CIHR), USA (NIH), China (NSFC), Israel and Europe.
Awards
- LMP Richard G. Hegele Award for Excellence in Research and Innovation, University of Toronto, 2022
- Distinguished Lecturer/Scientific Excellence Award in Blood and Blood Vessel Sciences, Canadian Society of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (CSATVB) and CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (CIHR-ICRH), 2021
- Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS), 2020
- Keenan Legacy Award; Unity Health Toronto, 2019
- CPAC Professional Achievement Award, 2019
- Keating Award for hematology, Toronto, 2018
- Kalman Kovacs Award for undergraduate teaching, SMH, University of Toronto, 2016
- Graduate Teaching Award for Graduate Student Mentorship, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 2013
- LMP Teaching Award for undergraduate student education, University of Toronto, 2012
- S. C. Verma Young Investigator Award, Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence, University of Toronto, 2008