CVRTI Timeline

April 27 1967

First Director

Maxwell M. Wintrobe, MD, then Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, serves as the Planning Coordinator of CVRTI and later as the first Director (1969).

April 27 1969

CVRTI Building

The Utah Board of Regents formally establishes the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute (CVRTI) at the University.

April 27 1973

Director Abildskov

JA Abildskov, MD is appointed Director and serves until 1994.

May 14 1976

Detecting ventricular in humans

Drs. Abildskov, Burgess, Lux, and Vincent study he utility of body surface electrical mapping in detecting ventricular recovery properties in humans. _{Abildskov JA, Burgess MJ, Lux RL, Wyatt R, Vincent M. The Expression of Normal Ventricular Repolarization in the Body Surface Distribution of T Potentials. Circulation, 54 (6), 901-906, 1976}

May 14 1978

An experimental study in dogs

Drs. Abildskov, Burgess, and Lux demonstrate the conditions of increased local disparity of ventricular recovery which increase vulnerability to arrhythmia can be detected by analysis of the body surface electrocardiogram.
_{Urie PM, Burgess MJ, Lux RL, Wyatt R, Abildskov JA. The electrocardiographic recognition of cardiac states at high risk of ventriculararrhythmias: An experimental study in dogs.Circulation Research, 42 (3), 350-358, 1978}

April 27 1982

William Devries

Dr. William Devries implants the Jarvik-7 heart into Dr. Barney Clark at the University of Utah.

May 14 1984

Human Endothelial Cells

Drs. McIntyre, Prescott, and Zimmerman demonstrate that human endothelial cells rapidly express adhesion molecules for leukocytes when activated by prothrombotic or proinflammatory agonists.
_{Prescott SM, Zimmerman GA, McIntyre TM. Human endothelial cells in culture produce platelet-activating factor (1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) when stimulated with thrombin. PNAS, 881, 3534-3538, 1984}

May 14 1985

Inflammatory cell-cell interactions

Drs. McIntyre, Prescott, and Zimmerman demonstrate that thrombin promotes neutrophil-endothelial interaction provided the basis for further research regarding inflammatory cell-cell interactions.
_{Zimmerman GA, McIntyre TM, Prescott SM. Thrombin stimulates the adherence of neutrophils to human endothelial cells in vitro. J. Clin. Invest. 76, 2235-2246, 1985}

May 14 1989

First Plasma Lipid

Drs. McIntyre, Prescott, Stafforini, and Zimmerman first demonstrate that the plasma lipid environment significantly modulates PAF hydrolase activity provided the basis for further research concerning lipid signaling and inflammatory regulation.
_{Stafforini DM, Carter ME, Zimmerman GA, McIntyre. TM, Prescott SM. Lipoproteins alter the catalytic behavior of the platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase in human plasma. PNAS 86, 2393-2397, 1989}

May 14 1990

Relationship between ventricular action potential duration and electrograms

Drs. Haws and Lux demonstration of the close relationship between ventricular action potential duration (cellular recordings) and electrograms recorded at the body surface.
_{Haws CSW and Lux RL. Correlation between in vivo transmembrane action potential durations and activation-recovery intervals from electrograms. Effects of interventions that alter repolarization time. Circulation 81, 281–288, 1990}

May 14 1990

Relationship between charge movements associated with ICa and INa-Ca in cardiac myocytes

Drs. Bridge and Spitzer show the close connection between calcium influx via calcium current and efflux via sodium-calcium exchange in heart cells.
_{Bridge JH, Smolley JR, Spitzer KW. The relationship between charge movements associated with ICa and INa-Ca in cardiac myocytes. Science, 248(4953), 376-378, 1990.}

April 30 1991

Epicardial mapping

Taccardi and Lux publish a structural model of epicardial mapping from the body surface.

April 30 1994

Director Lux

Robert L. Lux, PhD is appointed Director and serves until 1999.

April 30 1995

LQT

Sanguinetti and Keating publish a mechanistic cause for long QT syndrome (LQT).

May 14 1997

Three-dimensional electrical activation of the ventricles

Drs. Ershler, Lux, and Taccardi demonstrate electrical recordings from the body surface can reliably detect three-dimensional electrical activation of the ventricles.
_{Oster HS, Taccardi B, Lux RL, Ershler PR, Rudy Y. Noninvasive Electrocardiographic Imaging: Reconstruction of Epicardial Potentials, Electrograms, and Isochrones and Localization of Single and Multiple Electrocardiac Events. Circulation, 96 (3), 1012-1024, 1997}

May 14 1998

Human Platelets translate messenger RNAs

Drs. Elstad, McIntyre, Prescott, Weyrich, and Zimmerman demonstrate that activated human platelets translate messenger RNAs, which are basally present in an extensive and diverse endogenous transcriptome, to critical biologically-active proteins, fundamentally altering paradigms in platelet biology.
_{Weyrich AS, Dixon DA, Ravinder P, Elstad MR, McIntyre TM, Prescott SM, Zimmerman GA. Signal-dependent translation of a regulatory protein, Bcl-3, in activated human platelets. PNAS, 95: 5556-5561,1998}

April 30 1999

Co-Directors

Rob MacLeod, PhD, Kenneth Spitzer, PhD, and Bruno Taccardi, MD, PhD are appointed co-Directors.

May 14 2000

ECG Imaging of electrophysiologically abnormal substrates in infarcted hearts

Drs. MacLeod and Taccardi strengthen the validity of using electrocardiographic imaging to detect and localize areas of myocardial infarct and structural disease.
_{Burnes JE, Taccardi B, MacLeod RS, and Rudy Y. Noninvasive ECG Imaging of electrophysiologically abnormal substrates in infarcted hearts. A model study. Circulation, 101 (5), 533-540, 2000}

May 14 2002

Dr. Tristani identifies several novel potassium channel mutations

Dr. Tristani identifies several novel potassium channel mutations that provide new insight concerning the mechanism of cardiac arrhythmia in patients with Anderson syndrome.
_{Tristani-Firouzi M, Jensen JL, Donaldson MR, Sansone V, Meola G, Hahn A, Bendahhou S, Kwiecinski H, Fidzianska A, Plaster N, Fu YH, Ptacek LJ, Tawil R. Functional and clinical characterization of KCNJ2 mutations associated with LQT7 (Andersen syndrome). J Clin Invest. 110(3):381-388, 2002}

April 30 2003

Director Spitzer

Kenneth Spitzer, PhD is appointed Director and serves until 2019.

May 14 2003

Dr. Sheets defines the molecular basis of lidocaine’s effect on sodium channel gating

Dr. Sheets defines the molecular basis of lidocaine’s effect on sodium channel gating.
_{Sheets MF and Hanck DA. Molecular action of lidocaine on the voltage sensors of sodium channels. J. Gen. Physiol. 121:163-175, 2003}

May 14 2011

First intracellular and extracellular pH on calcium handling in heart cells

The first comprehensive evaluation of selective actions of intracellular and extracellular pH on calcium handling in heart cells by Dr. Spitzer.
_{Saegusa, N., Moorhouse, E., Vaughan-Jones, R.D., Spitzer KW. Influence of pH on Ca2+current and its control of electrical and Ca2+ signaling in ventricular myocytes. J Gen Physiol, 138(5), 537-559, 2011.}

May 14 2014

Dr. Sanguinetti describes the molecular basis of gating in a key potassium channel

Dr. Sanguinetti describes the molecular basis of gating in a key potassium channel involved in cardiac action potential repolarization.
_{Wu W, Gardner A, Sanguinetti MC. Cooperative Subunit Interactions Mediate Fast C-type Inactivation of hERG1 K+ Channels. Journal of Physiology. 592(20):4465-4480, 2014.}

May 14 2017

Predicting Edema and Chronic Lesion Size

Drs. Dosdall, MacLeod, and Ranjan demonstrate late gadolinium enhancement-MRI done acutely after myocardial ablation can quantify edema in the tissue and correlate the acute MRI findings with chronic lesion formation.
_{Ghafoori E, Kholmovski EG, Thomas S, Silvernagel J, Angel N, Hu N, Dosdall D, MacLeod R, Ranjan R. Characterization of Gadolinium Contrast-Enhancement of Radiofrequency Ablation Lesions in Predicting Edema and Chronic Lesion Size. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 10(11), 2017.}

May 14 2017

End-stage human heart failure induces development of sheet-like invaginations of the cell membrane

Drs. Drakos, Sachse, Selzman, and Tristani-Firouzi demonstrate that end-stage human heart failure induces development of sheet-like invaginations of the cell membrane that may constitute a precondition and predictor for functional cardiac recovery after mechanical unloading.
_{T. Seidel, S. Navankasattusas, A. Ahmad, N. A. Diakos, W. D. Xu, M. Tristani-Firouzi, M. J. Bonios, I. Taleb, D. Y. Li, C. H. Selzman, S. G. Drakos, and F. B. Sachse. Sheet-like remodeling of the transverse tubular system in human heart failure impairs excitation-contraction coupling and functional recovery by mechanical unloading. Circ, 135(17):1632-45, 2017.}

May 14 2018

Mitochondrial metabolism can be regulated by Smyd1

Drs. Franklin, Warren, and Zaitsev demonstrate mitochondrial metabolism can be regulated by Smyd1, an important modulator of gene expression in the heart.
_{Warren J, Tracy CM, Miller MR, Makaju A, Szulik MW, Yuzyuk TN, Barton DW, Wang L, García J, Sabry AD, Cawley K, Cox J, Yong Hwan Han, Boudina S, Fiehn O, Tucker H, Zaitsev AV, Franklin S. Histone Methyltransferase Smyd1 Regulates Mitochondrial Energetics in the Heart. PNAS,115 (33): E7871-E7880, 2018.}

April 30 2019

Director Shaw

Robin Shaw, MD, PhD is appointed Director.

May 14 2020

The Role of Non-Glycolytic Glucose Metabolism in Myocardial Recovery

Drs. Chaudhuri, Drakos, and Selzman demonstrate heart failure patients who successfully respond to mechanical unloading have major alterations in cardiac metabolism that may facilitate their recovery.
_{Badolia R, Ramadurai DKA, Abel ED, Ferrin P, Taleb I, Shankar TS, Thodou Krokidi A, Navankasattusas S, McKellar SH, Yin M, Kfoury AG, Wever-Pinzon O, Fang JC, Selzman CH, Chaudhuri D, Rutter J, Drakos SG. The Role of Non-Glycolytic Glucose Metabolism in Myocardial Recovery upon Mechanical Unloading and Circulatory Support in Chronic Heart Failure. Circulation. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.044452, April 2020}