The most remarkable advances in cardiovascular medicine started with basic and clinical research initiatives. At the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center, numerous research projects are carried out at the clinical and pre-clinical levels. Some of the far-reaching initiatives currently under investigation include:

• Novel methods to prevent the progression of coronary artery disease.
• Protecting against heart attacks by decreasing the damage or by restoring blood flow to areas affected by clogged arteries.
• Enhancing the performance of failing hearts.
• Detecting heart damage earlier and more accurately.
• Precisely detecting the presence of circulation blockage.
• Predicting and preventing cardiac arrest among survivors of myocardial infarction using cardiac MRI.
• Understanding pulmonary hypertension among patients with primary pulmonary hypertension and scleroderma.
• Characterizing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using cardiac MRI.
• Improving management of patients with chest pain in the emergency department using the cardiac CT “triple rule out” for rapid evaluation of aortic dissection, pulmonary embolism, and acute myocardial infarction.

Many of these research projects build upon unique research strengths at UConn Health and areas of excellence such as the Advanced Imaging Center and the Center for Vascular Biology; which is focused solely on the study of blood vessel function.