Research Overview

The department continues to cultivate a rich tradition of translating bench discoveries to clinical applications by fostering a collaborative research environment designed to strengthen our efforts in tackling the world’s most challenging human diseases. The department’s success in biomedical research can in large part be attributed to the quality of its scientists and the commitment and support of departmental and hospital leadership in providing resources, space, and facilities to develop first rate research programs. Particular research strengths in the department include translational and clinical research involving disease-oriented research, patient-oriented research and population science.

The department is the home of the Nurse’s Health Study, the Physician’s Health Study, and the Women’s Health Study, three world-renowned and long-running epidemiological studies. The department is also home to such groundbreaking clinical research studies as the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Trials, founded by Dr. Eugene Braunwald in 1984. Initially sponsored by NHLBI and later by major industrial and academic partners, the TIMI trials focus on various thrombolytic and anti-thrombotic treatments for patients with acute myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome, and have dramatically altered and improved the care of cardiac patients. Other areas of strength include cardiovascular research, immunology, cancer biology, sleep medicine and genetics.

The department’s research programs have grown steadily over the past two decades, with the department consistently ranking as one of the top U.S. departments of medicine to receive research support. The department’s current activity accounts for approximately 63% of total BWH research activity. With over 1,200 active projects, research within the department has grown 40% since 2002. This translates into an increase in total research expenditures of approximately $75 million. These figures do not include research expenditures for the Division of Medical Oncology (estimated at $55 million) as all grants for this division are processed through the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Looking forward, the department currently has over $553 million in committed direct research funding through 2012.

Departmented research space has also increased substantially in response to the growth in activities. The department currently utilizes over 392,000 net assignable square feet of research space both onsite and offsite.