The VTCRI Center for Heart and Regenerative Medicine Research serves as a nexus for cardiovascular research teams exploring basic research questions about the heart.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation, and other funding institutions, four top researchers—Drs. Robert Gourdie, Steven Poelzing, John Chappell, and James Smyth—lead independent, yet linked, cardiovascular research teams.

With heart disease the nation’s leading killer, these teams are working to understand how the heart develops, how it becomes damaged, and, ultimately, how it can be repaired. They are also mapping out fundamental properties of the heart, such as how it conducts electricity. Together, they are delving into new strategies for healing the heart.