Medical graduate, Master's student
McGill University, Université de Montréal, Canada
David Derish, MDCM
Affiliations: Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, McGill University & Faculty of Medicine, University of Montréal, Montréal QC.
Born and raised in Montréal, David Derish is a recent McGill medical graduate and a master's student working on cardiac transplantation research at the CRCHUM. He has conducted research under Dr. Renzo Cecere, Dr. Kevin Lachapelle, and Dr. Dominique Shum-Tim on projects spanning induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs), aortic valve and aortopathy surgical innovation, and operating room quality improvement. His interests have steadily focused on cardiac surgery cardiology and cardiac regenerative medicine, with a particular passion for fundamental, cell-based cardiomyocyte work; probing mechanisms of injury, repair, and myocardial resilience to inform operative care.
After graduating from medical school, David began a research master’s under the supervision of Dr. Nicolas Noiseux and Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Noly centered on a porcine model of donation-after-circulatory-death normothermic regional perfusion (DCD-NRP). His program integrates basic science and translational experimentation to refine myocardial recovery after warm ischemic injury and reperfusion. By pairing biomolecular strategies with functional intraoperative testing and rigorous phenotyping, the group aims to optimize cardiac regeneration and ischemia-reperfusion protection. The larger vision is explicitly translational: expand donor opportunities, increase heart-transplant rates, and shorten wait times by bringing bench discoveries into protocols that work in the operating room and ICU.
Beyond the lab, David blends science and storytelling through visual art. He has illustrated four scientific journal covers and previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the McGill Science Undergraduate Research Journal (MSURJ), where he championed clear, rigorous communication and mentored early-career authors. Outside of work, he enjoys hiking and movies.