Basic, translational and clinical research programs in cardiovascular medicine by department faculty are broadly focused upon normal and pathologic processes involving the heart and vasculature. Extramural funding by full-time faculty is derived from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Veteran's Administration and industry. The department has been the recipient since 1995 of a National Institutes of Health sponsored Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grants in heart failure.

Major basic cardiovascular research interests in the department include vascular lipid metabolism; oxidative stress and inflammation in vascular disease; G protein, protein kinase signaling and myocardial apoptosis in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. A multimillion dollar institutional initiative for identifying and characterizing human polymorphic genetic determinants of heart failure began in the year 2000 that involves investigators from the Department of Medicine as well as other departments in the College of Medicine.

In addition to its basic research programs, the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases has active clinical trials programs in the areas of coronary artery disease, electrophysiology, heart failure, interventional cardiology and cardiac computerized tomography. Clinical trials in the area of imaging include radiotracer imaging of cardiac sympathetic innervation, Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging of fatty acid tracers, and validation of coronary CT angiography. The division is also actively involved in novel therapies for coronary angiogenesis, including the cardiac application of adult autologous stem cells.

Current Clinical Trials

Research and Training in Molecular and Cardiovascular Biology at the University of Cincinnati.