In Vivo - Drive Begun to Foster Advances In Cardiovascular Research

In Vivo

Cardiovascular Research Initiative Launched
Message from EVP
Dr. Lee Goldman
Rapid Test for Kidney Failure Developed
Kavli Prize for Neuroscience
Improving Dental Care for Dementia Patients
Mailman School Researcher:
Baby Boomer Healthcare Will
be Inadequate
Study Opportunity in Israel
Scenes from Graduation Ceremonies
Research Briefs
Guess Who´s Going into Urology?
New Cataract Surgery Technique Improves Vision
Children's Hospital to Host Major Conference for
Pediatricians
HIV Center Anniversary
Honors & Awards
Grants
CUMC at Large

GROWTH

Drive Begun to Foster Advances In Cardiovascular Research
GOAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH INITIATIVE IS TO SUPPORT BASIC AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH, BOOST COLLABORATIONS

Robert Kass (left) and Alan Tall are leading the push to marshall Columbia's forces in cardiovascular research.

Columbia University Medical Center is already renowned nationwide for its excellence in cardiovascular research, especially in the areas of atherosclerosis, arrhythmia, and heart failure. Now, in an effort to support growth and expansion in cardiac research, the College of Physicians and Surgeons has launched the Cardiovascular Research Initiative (CVRI).
   The CVRI is intended to enhance existing programs and strengthen capabilities in cardiovascular genetics, vascular biology, and developmental biology, according to director Alan Tall, MD, Tilden-Weger-Bieler Professor of Medicine and professor of physiology and cellular biophysics, and vice director Robert Kass, PhD, Hosack Professor of Pharmacology, vice dean for research and chairman of the Department of Pharmacology. The CVRI serves as an umbrella for all basic and translational research in cardiology at the medical center and also is intended to help in the retention of faculty and recruitment of promising new faculty.
   “Our objective is for the CVRI to be both an intellectual home – where seminars by leaders in the field of cardiovascular medicine will regularly take place – as well as a physical home, where our researchers will be supported by first-rate facilities and be able to freely interact and collaborate,” Dr. Tall says.
   In keeping with its mission to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, the CVRI has 35 members drawn from a broad range of departments and divisions. Disciplines represented are cardiology, endocrinology, physiology & cellular biophysics, molecular medicine, preventive medicine & nutrition, pediatric cardiology, nursing, surgery, general medicine and, pharmacology. Faculty from the Allen Pavilion, the affiliated community hospital in Northern Man-hattan, also are represented. The 12-member executive committee also is an interdisciplinary group.
   The CVRI supports the awarding of the Lewis Katz Prizes in Cardiovascular Research, which were created in the Division of Cardiology by philanthropist Lewis Katz to recognize achievement in cardiovascular research and education.
   “With heart disease still the major cause of death and disability in many parts of the world, a great need exists to integrate basic and applied research and quickly get improved treatments to patients,” says Dr. Kass. “Our talented faculty need to be provided with the opportunities to make their best possible contributions. The CVRI will be the catalyst to make this happen.”

For more information about the Cardiovascular Research Initiative and for
a list of individual members, please visit www.cvri.columbia.edu

—Anna Sobkowski