NIH issues grant to UPenn for cardiac research, establish network

Cardiac researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) have received a grant for $2.1 million from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to initiate studies in cardiovascular disease management and participate in a collaboration network to develop and implement research.

UPenn is one of eight centers throughout the United States and Canada to be a named a Clinical Coordinating Center in the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute-funded Clinical Research Network. The network will fund the creation of research and clinical trials to answer questions in cardiothoracic surgery that have eluded researchers.

The eight institutions that comprise the Cardiothoracic Surgical Network will collaborate over a five-year period to improve current technologies and create new ones to treat cardiovascular disease.

“The establishment of this network will result in great benefit for patients. It also encourages leaders in cardiovascular surgery to share ideas, information, data and results,” said Michael Acker, MD, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and principal investigator.

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