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Philip Connelly

PhD, BA

Affiliate Scientist

Email: Phil.Connelly@unityhealth.to
Tel: 416-864-6023

Biography

Dr. Phil Connelly is a Staff Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael’s Hospital. He has a primary academic appointment in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, as well as a graduate appointment in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. Dr. Connelly’s current basic research is focused on the metabolism of hydroxy fatty aldehydes. The chemistry of this system involves glutathione and the products are readily exported from the cells to undergo further metabolism. The products are known to be proinflammatory and, we hypothesize, atherothrombotic.

Collaborative research on patient populations is focused on renal transplant recipients, women with gestational diabetes and subjects with pre-diabetes.

Recent Publications

  1. Retnakaran, R, Ye, C, Kramer, CK, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M et al.. One-Hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test for the Postpartum Reclassification of Women With Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2025;80 (12):743-745. doi: 10.1097/01.ogx.0001176344.19278.76. PubMed PMID:41373143 .
  2. Retnakaran, R, Bu, D, Pu, J, Connelly, PW, Hanley, AJ, Zhang, N et al.. Serum endotrophin relates to blood pressure in young South Asian women but not White women: evidence of ethnic variation in its early vascular implications. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2025;25 (1):689. doi: 10.1186/s12872-025-05153-1. PubMed PMID:41023590 PubMed Central PMC12481994.
  3. Retnakaran, R, Ye, C, Kramer, CK, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M et al.. One-Hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test for the Postpartum Reclassification of Women With Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy. Diabetes Care. 2025;48 (6):887-895. doi: 10.2337/dc24-1848. PubMed PMID:40029070 .
  4. Boelling, M, Pu, J, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M, Zinman, B et al.. Sustained Reduction of Subclinical Inflammation in the Years After Breastfeeding. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025;110 (7):e2208-e2216. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgae772. PubMed PMID:39489163 PubMed Central PMC12187328.
  5. Kramer, CK, Ye, C, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M, Zinman, B et al.. Postpartum weight retention and the early evolution of cardiovascular risk over the first 5 years after pregnancy. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2024;23 (1):101. doi: 10.1186/s12933-024-02184-4. PubMed PMID:38500162 PubMed Central PMC10949683.
  6. Retnakaran, R, Pu, J, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M, Zinman, B et al.. Future cardiometabolic implications of insulin hypersecretion in response to oral glucose: a prospective cohort study. EClinicalMedicine. 2024;67 :102363. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102363. PubMed PMID:38314059 PubMed Central PMC10837529.
  7. Mehmood, S, Ye, C, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M, Zinman, B et al.. Impact of the diagnosis of gestational diabetes on maternal physical activity after pregnancy. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2024;26 (4):1207-1215. doi: 10.1111/dom.15415. PubMed PMID:38116699 .
  8. Retnakaran, R, Ye, C, Kramer, CK, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M et al.. Deteriorating beta cell function is the dominant determinant of progression from normal glucose tolerance to prediabetes/diabetes in young women following pregnancy. Diabetologia. 2023;66 (11):2154-2163. doi: 10.1007/s00125-023-05994-5. PubMed PMID:37612415 .
  9. Retnakaran, R, Ye, C, Hanley, AJ, Connelly, PW, Sermer, M, Zinman, B et al.. Treatment of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Maternal Risk of Diabetes After Pregnancy. Diabetes Care. 2023;46 (3):587-592. doi: 10.2337/dc22-1786. PubMed PMID:36602334 .
  10. Jenkins, DJA, Chiavaroli, L, Mirrahimi, A, Mitchell, S, Faulkner, D, Sahye-Pudaruth, S et al.. Glycemic Index Versus Wheat Fiber on Arterial Wall Damage in Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes Care. 2022;45 (12):2862-2870. doi: 10.2337/dc22-1028. PubMed PMID:36326712 PubMed Central PMC9862401.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Director, J. Alick Little Lipid Research Laboratory, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, University of Toronto
  • Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto