Bianca Mammarella

Bianca Mammarella is a third-year Integrated Science student concentrating in Biology at McMaster University. The Integrated Science program accepts roughly 60 students annually, encompassing all science perspectives through collaborative learning, research opportunities and experimental design. In addition to her core program, Bianca anticipates an interdisciplinary minor in community engagement and a concurrent certificate in leadership, equity, and social change. At McMaster, Bianca has co-founded a CPR training and education initiative. She is an executive member of the Integrated Science Society and Co-Chair of the Integrated Science Student Conference, Synthesis.

Bianca’s involvement in cardiology research, specifically electrophysiology research, began at 16 when she completed a cooperative education placement at St. Michael’s Hospital under the supervision of Dr. Paul Dorian and Dr. Paul Angaran. At that time, she assisted with seven clinical trials – EARLY-AF, MORE CRT MPP and ARTESiA, among others. After concluding this experience, she worked with Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) as a member of the ARTESiA study team as well as returning to St. Michael’s as a Keenan Research Summer Student under the supervision of Dr. Paul Angaran and Dr. Katherine Allan.

Bianca’s research interests lie in heart failure, resuscitation, health economics, atrial fibrillation, oral anticoagulation, and socioeconomic factors.

Under the supervision of Dr. Katherine Allan, Bianca is the co-first author of a systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on the most effective methods of teaching CPR to grade school children (aged 4-18). Additionally, under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Healey at PHRI, Bianca has completed an independent project as part of the Integrated Science program working with the RE-LY AF registry. She focused on grouping the countries that participated in the RE-LY AF registry into three economic groupings (high, high/middle, low/middle-low) to determine the impact a country’s economic class has on atrial fibrillation baseline, treatment, and outcome measures. Her undergraduate thesis will investigate the incidence of heart failure in patients with subclinical atrial fibrillation using the ARTESiA patient population.

When asked about her involvement in CHAT, Bianca said, “I have been exposed to a multidisciplinary group of individuals from physicians to allied health partners who have broadened my perspectives in cardiology. I love the intersectionality of cardiology, and through being in CHAT, I can explore all of the unique disciplines integrated into our trainee network.”