Dominic Ng

Dominic Ng is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.

He is  Staff Endocrinologist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Scientist at the Keenan Research Center, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. Dr Ng is a consulting physician for the Lipids Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.

Dr Ng has a special research interest in lipid disorders and diabetes. He runs a Basic Science Research Laboratory at Keenan Research Center with his current research focusing on the novel roles of lipids in the development of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

His research has been funded by national peer-reviewed funding agencies including the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

He is one of the primary panel members for the development of the 2006, 2009 and 2012 Canadian Lipid Guidelines. He also co-authored the 2011 Canadian Working Group Consensus on the management of statin intolerance and its update published in 2013.

Dr Ng has published numerous peer-reviewed papers in the areas of lipid disorders, both in basic science and in clinical practices.

Dr Ng has been Vice chair of Research Grant review committee and an executive member of the National Research Council for the Canadian Diabetes Association since 2011. He was elected as member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Society of Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology from 2013- 2016.

Research Synopsis

My research lab is primarily interested in the area of genetics of lipid disorders and cardio-metabolic disorders with special emphasis on high density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism.

We use transgenic/knock out mice as models and our tools include in vivo experiments, ex vivo and in vitro assays at tissue, cellular, and molecular levels.

We are particularly interested in using in vivo mouse models to examine the impact of specific genetic-based dyslipidemic states on atherogenesis, diabetogenesis and more recently, obesity and brown fat development.

Detailed analyses of these animal models using cellular, molecular and genetic markers will also be carried out to elucidate the underlying mechanism of such disease processes and their interactions.

Such genetic models are also used to study the effects of dietary and drug interventions.

Recent Publications

Tanigawa H, Jeffrey T. Billheimer JT, Tohyama J-i, Fuki IV, Ng DS; Rothblat GH, Rader DJ. Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase expression has minimal effects on macrophage reverse cholesterol transport in vivo. Circulation (2009) 120(2) 160-169.

Connelly PW, Picardo CM, Potter PM, Teiber JF, Maguire GF, Ng DS. Mouse serum paraoxonase-1 laconase activity is specific for medium-chain length fatty acid lactones. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011 Jan;1811(1):39-45. (Senior author)

Li L, Hossain MA, Sadat S, Hager L, Liu L, Tam L, Schroer S, Huogen L, Fantus IG,  Connelly PW, Woo M, Ng DS.  J Biol Chem. 2011 286(20):17809-20. (Senior and corresponding author)

Li L, Tam L, Liu L, Jin T, Ng DS. Wnt-signaling mediates the anti-adipogenic action of lysophophatidic acid through cross talking with the Rho/Rho associated kinase (ROCK) pathway. Biochem and Cell Biol. 2011 89(6):515-21 (Senior and corresponding author).

John Mancini GB, Baker SK, Bergeron J, Fitchett D, Frohlich J, Genest J, Gupta M, Hegele RA, Ng DS, Pope J. Overview of the Diagnosis, Prevention and Management of Statin Adverse Effects and Intolerance: Proceedings of a Canadian Working Group Consensus. Can J Cardiol 2011 27(5):635-62. (co-author).

Hager L, Li L, Liu L, Maguire GF, Naples M, Baker C, Magomedova L, Adeli K, Cummins CL, Connelly PW, Ng DS. Lecithin:Cholesterol Acyltransferase deficiency Protects Against Cholesterol-Induced Hepatic Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Mice. J Biol Chem. 2012 in revision (Senior and corresponding author)

Ng DS. The role of lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase in the modulation of cardiometabolic risks – A clinical update and emerging insights from animal models. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2012 Jan 12. Epub (invited review).

Ng DS, Saw NMN. The role of high-density lipoprotein and its modulators in the development of diabetes. Curr Opin Lipidol 2012 (invited editorial, in press)

Ng DS, Wong NC, Hegele RA. HDL--is it too big to fail? Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2013 9(5):308-12

Anderson TJ, Grégoire J, Hegele RA, Couture P, Mancini GB, McPherson R, Francis GA, Poirier P, Lau DC, Grover S, Genest J Jr, Carpentier AC, Dufour R, Gupta M, Ward R, Leiter LA, Lonn E, Ng  DS, Pearson GJ, Yates GM, Stone JA, Ur E. 2012 update of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslipidemia for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the adult. 2013 29(2):151-67.

Ng DS. Lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase deficiency protects from diet-induced insulin resistance and obesity--novel insights from mouse models. Vitam Horm. 2013;91:259-70.

Bashiri A, Tavallaee G, Li L, Ng DS. Emerging role of cellular cholesterol in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2013 24(3):275-6.

Ng DS. Diabetic Dyslipidemia. Canadian Journal of Diabetes 2013; 37:319-26.

Mancini GB, Tashakkor AY, Baker S, Bergeron J, Fitchett D, Frohlich J, Genest J, Gupta M, Hegele RA, Ng DS, Pearson GJ, Pope J. Diagnosis, prevention, and management of statin adverse effects and intolerance: Canadian Working Group Consensus update. Can J Cardiol.  2013 29(12):1553-68.

Nesan D, Ng DS. Recent development in targeting brown adipose tissues for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2014 25(1):92-3.

Anderson TJ, Grégoire J, Hegele RA, Couture P, Mancini GB, McPherson R, Francis GA, Poirier P, Lau DC, Grover S, Genest J Jr, Carpentier AC, Dufour R, Gupta M, Ward R, Leiter LA, Lonn E, Ng DS, Pearson GJ, Yates GM, Stone JA, Ur E. Are the ACC/AHA Guidelines on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol a Game Changer? A Perspective From the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Dyslipidemia Panel. Can J Cardiol. 2014 Jan 17.