Research Labs
Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI)
The mission of the CVRI, under Geoffrey Pitt MD PhD, is to establish a multidisciplinary center of excellence to promote accelerated translation of basic scientific advances between the bench and bedside with the goal of developing innovative therapies and diagnostic approaches to identify, prevent, and treat cardiovascular diseases. The CVRI integrates the strong clinical cardiology programs and basic and translational research programs within Weill Cornell Medicine while building new areas of basic and translational investigation into cardiovascular diseases.
Goyal Lab - Program for the Care and Study of the Aging Heart
The mission of the Program for the Care and Study of the Aging Heart, under Parag Goyal MD MSc, is to advance the care of older adults with cardiovascular disease by providing personalized cardiovascular care adapted to age-related vulnerabilities and advance the science of cardiovascular aging and age-related cardiovascular conditions by developing, studying, and implementing innovative patient-centered approaches to cardiovascular care.
Lo Lab
The thematic focus of the Lo lab, under James Lo MD PhD, is to understand how cells and organisms adapt to metabolic stress. We use metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease as model systems of metabolic stress. The objective is to understand the fundamental molecular mechanisms of metabolic diseases with the ultimate goal of developing novel diagnostic tools and treatments.
Pitt Lab
The goal of the Pitt lab, under Geoffrey Pitt MD PhD, is to understand calcium signaling and ion channels in the heart and the brain. Employing cutting-edge scientific approaches from structural biology to patient-specific studies, research in the Pitt lab strives to uncover disease mechanisms and offer potential for patient therapy and for genetic testing. The lab team uses cutting-edge scientific approaches, spanning from structural biology approaches through molecular and cellular platforms to animal models, as well as investigations of human disease with patient samples.
Kini Lab
The general mission of the Kini lab, under Vinay Kini, MD, MSc, is to evaluate and improve care quality and outcomes of patients with cardiovascular disease. Specific areas of research include: 1) assessing and improving the value (outcomes / cost) of cardiovascular care delivery; 2) evaluating how changes in healthcare delivery (e.g., vertical integration) impacts care quality, costs, and patient outcomes; and 3) assessing the impact of policy changes and payment models (e.g., bundled payments) on cardiovascular care quality and outcomes.
The Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Laboratoy
The Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging Laboratory, under Jiwon Kim MD and Jonathan Weinsaft MD, develops improved methods for imaging the heart, as well as guiding therapeutic and prognostic decision making for patients with cardiovascular disease. A major focus of the lab is on use of new CMR and echocardiography techniques to elucidate links between altered myocardial tissue characteristics (i.e., changes in underlying tissue substrate) and impaired myocardial function (i.e., contraction), with the goal of developing physiologically tailored therapies to improve patient outcomes.
Translational research by the group has established links between CMR-evidenced myocardial scarring and a risk for a broad array of conditions, including heart failure, mitral valve degeneration, and stroke.
Technical research has developed new imaging algorithms, which have been shown to yield incremental utility for identification of myocardial scar, thrombus (blood clots), and cardiac dysfunction. Ongoing work by the group focuses on further improving clinical and technical including development of new high-resolution technologies to identify of micro-infarcts in critically important regions of the heart (left atrium, right ventricle) never before accessible via conventional imaging technologies.