About Nora Eccles Harrison CVRTI
OUR VISION
CVRTI will be associated with rigorous and groundbreaking science that leads to new diagnostics and therapies for cardiovascular disease. Future treatments for heart failure and arrhythmia will have CVRTI science as their origin. We will achieve this vision by prioritizing academic meritocracy, growing our research productivity, and achieving national leadership in cardiovascular research.
CVRTI MISSION
The Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research Training Institute (CVRTI) integrates professors and trainees across academic departments to nucleate a campus wide cell-to-bedside approach in cardiovascular education and research.
Founded in 1969 and supported by the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, the CVRTI is a freestanding 40,000 sq ft cardiac research institute located on the University of Utah’s Health Sciences Campus. An additional 10,000 sq ft expansion was completed in 2022 to support our continued growth in personnel, laboratory space, and research capabilities. As we grow in size and investigator laboratories, the diversity of our research and the number of collaborations increase exponentially.
The CVRTI currently includes 18 faculty investigators with independent laboratories and approximately 130 additional trainees and staff. All investigators hold primary academic appointments at the University of Utah and are drawn from three Colleges- Medicine, Pharmacy, and Engineering- and five Departments: Internal Medicine (Cardiology), Pharmacology and Toxicology, Pediatrics (Cardiology), Surgery (Cardiothoracic and Emergency Medicine) and Bioengineering. Our research spans the full spectrum of cardiovascular science, from basic biochemistry and protein-protein interactions, to cellular electrophysiology, myocyte biology and metabolism.
The CVRTI provides a superb interdisciplinary environment with outstanding scientific and technical resources coupled with a high level of collegiality. Known for major discoveries that include the first implanted total artificial (Jarvik) heart and the genetic origin of long QT syndrome, the CVRTI stands as the largest freestanding research institute in the United States focused on cardiac muscle biology, metabolism, and electrophysiology.
OUR VALUES
Rigor, fundamental discoveries, therapeutic solutions
OUR HISTORY
Maxwell M. Wintrobe, MD, former Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, initiated and developed the concept of a cardiovascular research institute at the University of Utah. From 1967 to 1973 he served as the Planning Coordinator of CVRTI and later as Director. In 1969 the Board of Regents formally established CVRTI at the University of Utah. Dr. JA Abildskov, MD, a University of Utah graduate and distinguished cardiologist/researcher, served as Director from 1973 to 1994. Under his able leadership the Institute became internationally recognized for its important contributions to the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Robert L. Lux, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, served as Director from 1994 to 1999. From 1999 to 2003 CVRTI was lead by three interim directors: Rob MacLeod, PhD, Kenneth Spitzer, PhD and Bruno Taccardi, MD, PhD. Dr. Spitzer served as Director from 2003 to 2019. Dr. Robin Shaw, MD, PhD was appointed Director in November, 2019. Through the generous financial support of Nora Eccles Harrison, Richard A. Harrison, and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, the Institute expanded to its present 20,000 square feet. At present the scientific themes at the CVRTI are muscle biology, electrophysiology, and metabolism.
