Promotes transformational discoveries in cardiovascular biology and medicine.
Translates discoveries in cardiovascular science and technology into innovative strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat
and ultimately cure cardiovascular diseases.
Fosters education in cardiovascular biology and medicine to physicians, students and the general community.
Creates a culture within the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine where patient care, research and education
within the broad area of cardiovascular biology and medicine are seamlessly integrated.
The Penn CVI builds bridges between basic and translational cardiovascular scientists and clinical investigators at the University of Pennsylvania in order
to generate transformational discoveries that will impact directly on cardiovascular health and disease at the onset of the new millennium.
The strategic focus and direction of the Penn CVI is overseen by the CVI Internal Advisory Committee that
includes senior faculty members from multiple Departments, Centers, Institutes and Schools at the University of Pennsylvania.
Despite remarkable advances in understanding the genetic and environmental causes of cardiovascular disease over the past fifty years, heart and
vascular disease remains the leading cause of mortality in western societies. Moreover, with aging of the population and the explosion of obesity and diabetes,
cardiovascular diseases are projected to become the leading cause of death on a worldwide basis for the first time in the history of the human species by the year 2020.
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The University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine has a long and storied tradition of pioneering research in cardiovascular biology, medicine and surgery.
Over the past decade, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has established nationally recognized research programs in molecular cardiology,
atherobiology and lipidology, thrombosis and haemostasis, cardiac electrophysiology and bioengineering.
Over the same period, Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have established nationally recognized cardiovascular
clinical programs in cardiac electrophysiology, heart failure and transplantation, preventive cardiology and lipid management, complex aortic and valvular
heart disease, congenital heart disease, vascular surgery, interventional cardiology and cardiovascular imaging. The overall goal of the Penn Cardiovascular
Institute is to leverage this basic and clinical expertise in cardiovascular biology and medicine to promote discovery.
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To promote multidisciplinary collaborative teams of investigators focused
in key strategic areas bridging basic science and clinical investigation,
the Penn CVI is organized into seven research programs:
See Research Teams »
Each program unit brings together basic, translational and clinical investigators working to translate basic discoveries
into novel preventive strategies, diagnostic modalities and treatments for cardiovascular diseases. The program
units sponsor a variety of activities intended to promote this goal, including CVI seminars, journal clubs,
and working meetings to plan new collaborative projects. In addition, the CVI sponsors strategically-targeted CVI
pilot grants rected toward the goal of submitting multi-disciplinary program project, SCCOR and NIH Roadmap type grants.
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A critical component of the Penn CVI is faculty members performing cardiovascular research are geographically
contiguous (whenever possible) in adjacent spaces that serve as cardiovascular centers-of-excellence on the Penn medical campus.
The state-of-the-art Biomedical
Research Building II/III on the Penn Medical campus is home
of the Penn CVI Administrative Team and contains
laboratories and core facilities dedicated to basic and translational
cardiovascular research. Because of obvious programmatic
synergies, the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (IDOM) will be relocated to the 7th floor of the BRB II/III and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) is located on the 8th floor of BRB II/III. Together, these three recently established Institutes will work together
to promote transformational discoveries in cardiovascular and metabolic/diabetic disease.
Cardiovascular research programs and collaborations located
outside BRB II/III also fall under the Penn CVI umbrella including
investigators in the Departments of: Cell and Developmental
Biology, Physiology, Genetics, Pharmacology, Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, Anesthesia, Pediatrics and the
Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME) and the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB).
Each of these centers, institutes and departments has a strong focus in cardiovascular research.In addition, close collaborations have been established with
clinical investigators at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
(CHOP) in order to facilitate translational and clinical research studies.
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See Core Labs »
Penn CVI Core Laboratories have been established that are available to faculty members of the Penn CVI performing basic, translational and clinical research. The Molecular Cardiology and
Translational core facilities are located on the 9th and 10th floors of the BRBII/III building.
Penn CVI Core Laboratories include:
Histology, Transgenic/ES cell, Mouse Cardiovascular Physiology and Myocyte Function, Mouse Electrophysiology and Cardiovascular Genetics and Genomics.
Special core facilities have been constructed to promote translational research studies using large animal models of cardiovascular
disease. These facilities and faculty members participating in these programs were established to build a bridge to the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The Penn Laboratory for Preclinical Cardiology (PLPC) is a good laboratory practices (GLP)-certified large animal interventional cardiology
laboratory that contains a state-of-the-art digital cardiac catheterization suite. It is located in the basement of the BRBII/III building. Faculty members and trainees in the Penn Cardiac Electrophysiology
program perform proof-of-concept studies in the Penn Experimental Electrophysiology Laboratory that is located in the Medical Science Research Laboratories Building on the Penn-Presbyterian
medical campus.
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See Educational Programs »
The Penn CVI also promotes educational programs in cardiovascular biology and medicine to physicians, students and the general
community. This includes the Penn CVI NIH-sponsored Training Program in Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine and the CCEB-sponsored Training Program
in Clinical Cardiology and Pulmonary Research. Penn CVI faculty members lecture and oversee Cardiovascular Workshops as part of the Cardiovascular Block of Curriculum 2000, the
undergraduate medical student core curriculum.
Penn CVI faculty members direct
ABIM-accredited fellowship training programs in Cardiovascular Medicine, Cardiac Electrophysiology and Interventional Cardiology
as well as Cardiothoracic Surgery and Vascular Surgery. In addition, CVI faculty members direct multiple CME courses focused
on multiple topics relevant to cardiovascular medicine and cardiothoracic surgery. CVI faculty members also present lectures on cardiovascular health
and disease to interested patients in the community at our outpatient satellite practices at Penn Medicine at Radnor and Penn Medicine at Cherry Hill.
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The University of Pennsylvania Cardiovascular Institute (Penn CVI) was