Weill Cornell Medicine Establishes New Institute to Bring Cardiovascular Advances from Bench to Bedside
Dr. Geoffrey Pitt
Weill Cornell Medicine aims to improve heart health for patients worldwide with the founding of its new Cardiovascular Research Institute, which will be dedicated to understanding the molecular, cellular and genetic underpinnings of cardiovascular disease.
Leading cardiologist and scientist Dr. Geoffrey Pitt will direct the new interdisciplinary institute, which will build upon the successes of Weill Cornell Medicine’s already robust cardiovascular research activities while unifying them under one research entity.
Dr. Pitt, who will head to Weill Cornell Medicine from Duke University, will recruit a team of scientists to pursue innovative research that improves treatments and therapies for conditions like coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and hypertension.
Basic and translational investigators in the institute will complement and collaborate closely with the exceptional clinical cardiology and cardiovascular surgery teams at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, ensuring that laboratory breakthroughs are rapidly applied to clinical settings.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, despite research advances in recent decades that have transformed the way doctors treat patients with the condition. The disease accounts for 17.3 million deaths each year — and the American Heart Association expects that figure to swell to more than 23.6 million by 2030.
"It's a truly exciting opportunity to lead the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine," said Dr. Pitt, who was recruited as the Ida and Theo Rossi Distinguished Professor of Medicine and will have a clinical appointment at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.
"Weill Cornell Medicine is uniquely positioned at the forefront of basic and translational research, which is critically important to support and improve patient care. The high-impact science our esteemed investigators will perform at the institute dovetails perfectly with the outstanding care our clinical cardiologists provide to our patients — with the goal of making that care even better."