Duke Heart Center is devoted to making heart care better with each passing year through research and education.

Research Highlights

Duke Heart Center is internationally known for translating scientific discoveries into new therapies and more effective treatments for heart disease.

About 200 cardiology studies and 20 cardiothoracic surgery studies are under way at Duke Heart Center -- including a number of "first-in-man" studies -- giving Duke patients access to leading-edge therapies, procedures, and devices.

Specific research highlights include:

• Founding site of both the NIH-funded Heart Failure Clinical Research Network and the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium
• One of nine U.S. sites in the NIH-funded Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network
• Research coordinating unit for the NHLBI Centers for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research
• Home to the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease -- the world's largest and oldest such outcomes registry, with information on 200,000-plus patients
• Duke cardiovascular faculty generated nearly 800 papers in peer-reviewed journals during the 2010-2011 academic year
• Duke Heart Center faculty receive more than $110 million in cardiovascular research funding each year from government and private sources
• Home to the editors of The Journal of Clinical Investigation and the American Heart Journal

Read more about research endeavors in the Division of Cardiology and the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.

Education Highlights

Duke Heart Center prepares talented young physicians to be leaders in cardiovascular care, research, education, and policy-making.

Both cardiology and surgical trainees have opportunities to conduct original research and publish articles in leading journals, with many earning research grants and national recognition.

Duke's Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training Program is among the nation’s largest and provides comprehensive clinical training in invasive and non-invasive cardiovascular medicine to about 40 fellows.

The Duke Cardiothoracic Surgical Residency Program is among the nation’s most highly respected. Faculty mentors are committed to training residents in all clinical aspects of adult cardiac, congenital cardiac, and general thoracic surgery -- and to promoting careers in advanced clinical research.