Clinical Discoveries Benefiting Patients
Clinical research in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at BIDMC is leading to the development of new therapies and diagnostics, as well as changes to the health care system — for the benefit of heart patients everywhere.
BIDMC's distinguished history of clinical innovation has contributed to some of cardiology's major advances, including the development of the implantable cardiac pacemaker, and key advances in the specialties of electrophysiology, cardiovascular imaging and international cardiology.
Our clinical faculty include principal investigators of major clinical trials to test new procedures, drugs and devices.
Electrophysiology
Selected electrophysiology research includes:
- Treatment of atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia among patients with heart failure
- Investigations of cardiac resynchronization therapies
- Development of novel ablation technologies to improve patient outcomes
- Methods to predict the risk of sudden cardiac death
- Appropriate role of implantable defibrillators for the prevention of sudden cardiac death
- Atrial anisotropy and atrial pacing for atrial fibrillation prevention
- Neural, behavioral and environmental triggers of arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death during ischemia, anger, REM sleep and exposure to environmental air particles
- Understanding the pathophysiologic and electrophysiological substrate for arrhythmias' reentrant circuits with particular focus on the mechanisms of tachycardia initiation and termination
Electrophysiology Researchers
Cardiovascular Imaging
Selected cardiovascular imaging research includes:
- Cardiovascular applications of magnetic resonance imaging
- coronary MRI
- valvular heart disease
- subclinical atherosclerosis
- atrial fibrosis in atrial fibrillation
- pericarditis
- Utilization of echocardiography for prognosis in valvular heart disease
- Appropriateness of echocardiographic referrals
- Noninvasive assessment of cardiovascular structure and function
- Epidemiology of subclinical cardiovascular disease, cardiac remodeling, vascular stiffness and heart failure
- Use of machine learning in echocardiography to predict risk of adverse outcomes
- Evaluation of echocardiography and risk of adverse outcomes with aging and frailty
Cardiovascular Imaging Researchers
Interventional Cardiology
Selected interventional cardiology research includes:
- Investigations of novel angiogenesis and myogenesis strategies, including stem cell and myotissue transplantations
- Study and development of cardiovascular devices, including percutaneous valves
- Study of myocardial restraint for congestive heart failure
- Regression of coronary artery disease with cholesterol-lowering agents
- Leadership in numerous multicenter device studies to test new technologies, including
- aortic valve prostheses
- bare metal stents
- drug eluting stents
- distal protection devices
- total occlusion devices
- carotid and peripheral revascularization procedures
Interventional Cardiology Researchers
