Christopher Simpson is professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Queen's University as well as the medical director of the cardiac program at Kingston General Hospital / Hotel Dieu Hospital. Dr. Simpson is an ICES Queen's adjunct scientist and past-president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). A New Brunswick native, Dr. Simpson obtained his MD in 1992 from Dalhousie University, and completed internal medicine and cardiology training at Queen's University. He subsequently completed a Heart and Stroke Foundation Research Fellowship in cardiac electrophysiology (heart rhythm disorders) at Western University under the supervision of Dr. George Klein.
Dr. Simpson's primary professional interest is health policy – particularly access to care. He serves as the chair of the Wait Time Alliance (WTA) and as chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's (CCS) Standing Committee on Health Policy and Advocacy. He is the lead for the Southeast (Ontario) Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Cardiovascular Roadmap Project. He serves on the executive of the CCS (member-at-large), on the Cardiac Care Network (CCN) board of directors, and is an American College of Cardiology (ACC) governor. He served as the first president of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society. He sits on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees, and has chaired or been a member of several national and international consensus conferences, including serving as co-chair of the CCS Consensus Conference on Medical Fitness to Drive and Fly. He is a past recipient of the CMA's Award for Young Leaders.
Dr. Simpson is an active clinician, educator and researcher. He has authored or co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications. His clinical and research interests include access to care, medical fitness to drive, referral pathway development, atrial fibrillation, sudden death in the young and cardiac resynchronization therapy.