About Us
The Cardiovascular, Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Research Center aims to integrate research efforts in obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease with the goal of advancing discoveries leading to improvements in treatment of these disorders.
Cardiovascular diseases, including obesity, diabetes and heart-related disorders, remain the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developed nations. The need to further understand the causes and mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, has prompted BWH physicians and scientists to form the Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Metabolic Disorders Research Center (CVDM) at the BWH Biomedical Research Institute (BRI).
Under the leadership of Drs. Gail Kurr Adler, Andrew Lichtman, and Marc Pfeffer, a primary goal of the CVDM Research Center is to facilitate progress in diagnosis, prevention, and treatments for patients with cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in ways that would be unfeasible for an individual group or traditional department. By bringing together outstanding researchers and health professionals from disciplines covering the spectrum of cardiovascular diseases, the CVDM Research Center provides BWH researchers with opportunities to collaborate and exchange ideas and to share a wide array of tools that will help them investigate complex research questions.
In the long history of cardiovascular care at BWH, investigators in the BWH-BRI Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Metabolic Disorders Research Center have a track record of translating research findings into cardiovascular treatments, for example:
Just over 10 years ago, BWH researchers found that ACE inhibitors dramatically improved survival in heart attack patients, making such treatment the international standard.
In 2003, another BWH research team demonstrated that a new class of drugs called angiotensin receptor blockers is as effective as ACE inhibitors in preventing repeat heart attacks, providing yet another tool in the fight against heart disease.
In 2005, BWH research in C-reactive protein revealed that measuring this marker of inflammation provides a more accurate indication of heart-disease risk than assessing cholesterol alone.
Our Departmental Affiliates
The BRI Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Metabolic Disorders Research Center engages the talent and resources of a diverse group of investigators spanning the departments of Surgery, Pathology, Radiology, Medicine, and Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine.
Our Investigators
BWH investigators are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to advances in cardiovascular, diabetes, and metabolic disorders research as recipients of prestigious awards, including elected members of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, Hermann Blumgart Award of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, and a Clinical Research Prize of the American Heart Association.. Additionally BWH investigators hold specialized grants to conduct interdisciplinary research, including program project grants.
To Learn More
To learn more about the hospital’s efforts in cardiovascular care, visit BWH’s Cardiovascular Center of Excellence site. For more information about the BWH-BRI CVDM Research Center, email bwhresearch@partners.org.
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