The Cardiovascular Research Center, founded in 1992 at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), is at the forefront of scientific discovery in cardiovascular health and disease, ranking in the top 10 in 2024 and the top 20 in the U.S. consistently during the last decade for federal dollars for cardiovascular research amongst medical schools. Over 32,000 square feet of space is dedicated to over 25
laboratories, housing offices, conference rooms, and equipment cores primarily located on the fourth floors of the Health Research Center and Medical Education Building. The Cardiovascular Research Center is situated in the heart of the Milwaukee Regional Medical Campus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which provides a unique immersive academic biomedical environment for cardiovascular education, research, and the healthcare of children and adults. The Cardiovascular Research Center’s mission is to lead discovery research and accelerate the translation of scientific breakthroughs for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. By building scientific bridges to clinical practice and training the next generation of cardiovascular researchers, we seek to revolutionize cardiovascular care and enhance public health across Wisconsin. More than 180 members of the Cardiovascular Research Center enjoy access to core equipment, specialized services, informative newsletters, pilot funding opportunities, and numerous seminars, events and courses for ongoing research education and trans-departmental networking to promote collaborative biomedical research, which are described in detail in following sections. Emphasis is placed on collaborative, multidisciplinary research centered around our members’ expertise in thematic areas of research called Signature Programs, which are 1) Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis & Vascular Biology, 2) Cardiac Biology & Heart Failure, 3) Cardio-Oncology, and 4) Hypertension. The Cardiovascular Research Center is directed by Mike Widlansky, MD, MPH, Northwestern Mutual Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Toxicology, who has over 20 years of experience and expertise leading cardiovascular clinical, training, and research programs. The Cardiovascular Research Center is supported by its three associate directors, Mary Sorci‐Thomas, PhD (Education & Training), Ze Zheng, MBBS, PhD (Basic Science), and Julie Freed, MD, PhD (Clinical & Translational Science); three assistant directors, Allison DeVan, PhD (Education & Training), Andrew Spearman, MD (Basic Science), and William Hughes, PhD (Clinical & Translational Science); and dedicated staff. Along with its exceptional leadership, the Cardiovascular Research Center receives extensive institutional support and thrives with philanthropic gifts by the A. Keelan, Jr., MD, Cardiovascular Research Fund, Sally Bentley Endowed Cardiovascular Venture Fund for New Researchers, Rupple Fund through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the Cullen Family Healthy Heart Research Program, among others. For the past decade, the Cardiovascular Research Center has stewarded over $4.3M to train the next generation of researchers through its prestigious T32 postdoctoral training grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). In the last four years, the Center has also provided more than 40 summer undergraduate research fellowships, funded by the American Heart Association (AHA) Supporting Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) and NHLBI R25, imparting training in career development and hands-on research experiences. For more information, visit: http://www.mcw.edu/Cardiovascular-Center.htm
