Co-Leaders: Thomas Brady MD, and Ahmed Tawakol, MD

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death and disability in the developed world. CV comes in many forms and costs the US billions of dollars every year.  It affects millions of people of all ages, yet much of the biology is still not understood and treatments are still often invasive and painful.  Moreover, most of the advances that have been made in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (drug-eluting stents, prosthetic heart valves, implantable defibrillators, etc.) have been as the direct result of technological innovations.

CIMIT investigators are working with the complex set of conditions cardiac patients and their care-givers experience and making meaningful progress.

Clinical Problem: Reduce deaths and disabilities caused by cardiovascular disease and strokes through improved diagnostics and treatments

CIMIT Solutions:

• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), a highly sensitive, advanced imaging tool able to detect vulnerable plaques which rupture, triggering many heart attacks and strokes.
• A safer, minimally invasive procedure to replace diseased aortic heart valves.
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) paired with computerized tomography to provide faster, more precise diagnosis of patients with chest pain in emergency rooms.