The University of Rochester Medical Center announced the opening of the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) in the Town of Henrietta. More than 100 scientists, students and technicians, currently housed across the Medical Center’s campus, will be brought together under one roof.
The 15 cardiovascular research laboratories moving to the new institute currently conduct more than 50 research projects with the goal of furthering the understanding of heart disease.
Projects range from the design of novel diagnostic approaches to research into how atherosclerotic plaque builds up in arteries to efforts to identify genes that control heart failure. Along with cardiovascular scientists, the newly renovated facility will house 15 researchers from Functional Genomics, a core facility that services researchers throughout the University and Medical Center, providing analysis of genetic material using state-of-the-art techniques.
The Aab CVRI is also reflective of the multidisciplinary research initiatives driving the strategic direction of the Medical Center as a whole. For example, cardiovascular diseases are a focus of the Medical Center’s soon-to-be-announced, five-year strategic plan, the main goal of which is to deliver new medical treatments for major disease areas.
The CVRI will be strengthened by leveraging new and joint recruitments, shared cores and equipment, and technologies that emerge from the strategic plan. In addition, CVRI research teams will be integral to the Medical Center’s newly established Clinical and Translational Science Institute, one of just 12 in the nation chosen to receive major funding from the National Institutes of Health. Under the CTSI umbrella, cardiovascular researchers will work collaboratively with scientists in related fields and with practicing physicians to accelerate the translation of basic science discoveries into new treatments.
The launch of the Aab CVRI will also bring new synergies between cardiovascular research and programs in clinical cardiology, cardiac surgery, and vascular surgery to provide novel diagnostic and treatment approaches. Taken together, these initiatives position the city of Rochester as a leading center nationally forthe treatment of cardiovascular disease, a place where basic research contributes to new treatments and clinical work suggests avenues for new research, according to CVRI leadership.