Touching lives through research
A Life of Kindness and Discovery
By Emma Jones
The late Ian Copland (MSc ’00, PhD ’06) was known as an uplifting force to the many people whose lives he touched.
“We called him ‘Mr. Neighbourhood’ because he would engage in conversation with anybody,” says Ian’s widow, Jenn Copland. “He was a goofball and super funny and so warm. I am still meeting people who were influenced by him.”
Ian unexpectedly died on July 15, 2015, following a sudden cardiac arrest while playing hockey — a sport he had loved since childhood. He was only 42 years old.
In life, Ian had a vivid presence and a brilliant mind. A dedicated family man, Ian and Jennifer shared two children, Matthew and Samantha, and were close with Ian’s parents, Bill and Susan Copland, and Ian’s siblings Heather, Meagan and Andrew.
Ian had completed both a master’s degree in physiology and a doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine — now the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
Martin Post, a professor of paediatrics and physiology at Temerty Medicine and a senior scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, supervised Ian’s PhD research, which explored the ventilator’s role in causing lung damage in premature infants. Post remembers how Ian always centred his scientific work on the impact it could ultimately have on patients.
“He always had an eye out for how research could be applied and lead to new therapies,” says Post.
After finishing a postdoctoral degree in Montreal in 2008 with Jacques Galipeau — now the assistant dean for therapeutics discovery and development at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health — Ian was offered a role as an assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology at Georgia’s Emory University. There, he pursued research on the mechanisms that regulate how particular cells promote tissue regeneration. True to his passion for translational science, Ian also co-founded Cambium Medical Technologies shortly after starting at Emory. The company, which continues to operate today, uses blood-derived products in regenerative medicine.
Before his death, Ian’s scientific career was flourishing. He was athletic and showed no signs of discomfort in the days and weeks prior to his passing. The news of his death came as a shock to his family, friends and colleagues.
While Ian’s cause of death is unknown, it is believed he had a cardiac arrhythmia, in which a person’s heart beats outside of its usual rhythm because of faulty electrical signalling. Children and adults with an arrythmia often do not experience any warning signs.
Michael Gollob, a professor of cardiology and physiology at Temerty Medicine and the research director of Toronto General Hospital’s Inherited Arrhythmia and Cardiomyopathy Program, explains how the cause of sudden, dangerous arrhythmias has been a mystery until recently.
“New advances have shown that many of these conditions are caused by genetic abnormalities which impact the heart’s electrical function — which can lead to sudden, erratic electrical activity of the heart causing a cardiac arrest,” says Gollob.
Ian’s death left his family heartbroken but also determined to continue the arc of scientific discovery to which he was so dedicated. In 2023, members of Ian’s family made a generous gift to establish the Ian Copland Accelerator Fund in Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmia Research at Temerty Medicine.
The gift will honour Ian’s memory by paying tribute to his passion for the transformative impact of fundamental health science by supporting pioneering investigations into the genetic causes of heart arrythmias.
“Losing Ian was incredibly hard for everybody,” says his mother, Susan. “We want to help prevent this from happening to another family.”
The Ian Copland Accelerator Fund in Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmia Research will help support Gollob and his team as they explore new areas related to inherited arrythmia conditions.
The Gollob Lab has made it their mission to better understand the underlying genetic causes of inherited arrythmia conditions. This is done using exome and genome DNA sequencing to compare genetic data of healthy people with patients at risk of inherited arrythmia conditions in the hopes of identifying genes and proteins that could provide the foundation for effective drug and gene therapy.
“The Ian Copland Fund provides invaluable support for critical research staff and infrastructure — speeding and strengthening our work,” says Gollob.
Susan says she sees Ian in the members of the Gollob lab, whose passion for translating their research into preventive treatments is obvious to anyone they meet.
“The work the researchers at the Gollob Lab are doing and the love they have for it is so inspiring,” says Susan. “It makes us feel that we’re really going to be able to make a difference.” •