Research & Innovations

The cardiovascular physicians at Stony Brook University Medical Center are committed to preventing, diagnosing, managing, and treating your heart and vascular disorder. More than that, however, is our dedication to learning more about these disorders and finding innovative and advanced treatments to help you along the road to recovery. As a world-renowned research university, the physician-scientists at the Heart Center at Stony Brook University Medical Center explore causes, treatments, and prevention of cardiovascular disease not only to further the science of medicine, but also to see that you truly receive the most advanced care. One of the ways that patients may access emerging therapies and advanced technology is through clinical research.

As a research university, Stony Brook receives more federal research funding than any other SUNY campus. The Heart Center uses this funding to increase our knowledge of the heart and how it functions. Our findings are translated into quality medical care. Multiple teams with the Heart Center at Stony Brook University Medical Center are currently involved in research, including cardiovascular imaging, electrophysiology, invasive cardiology, vascular medicine, heart failure, cardiothoracic surgery, and our women's heart program.

Our goal is to offer a variety of clinical trials broad enough to afford every patient the opportunity to access today's medical breakthroughs even as they occur.

Advances in Cardiovascular Medicine

ReoPro® is just one of our major contributions to cardiovascular care. ReoPro® is used to prevent the heart attacks after an angioplasty and stent procedure. Since its introduction in 1995, ReoPro® has been used to treat millions of patients. Another focus of our research and clinical development is our international work on enhanced external counterpulsation, or EECP. A noninvasive device for treatment of severe, inoperable coronary artery disease, EECP has been a clinical focus since the 1960s. Physician researchers at Stony Brook University Medical Center have been working with groups in Russia and China to better understand the use of EECP and its benefits to heart care. Our research on EECP has shown that it can be safely used on patients that are older than 80 years, those with diabetes, patients who are overweight or considered morbidly obese, patients with atrial fibrillation, and those with implanted devices such as pacemakers or defibrillators.

Other studies in which we are, or have been, involved include the OPTIMAL study, which provides participants with written recommendations about heart failure therapies based on current national guidelines following a no-cost consultation that participants can share with their regular physician; and Restor-MV (Myocor), which evaluates surgical treatment for off-pump repair of the mitral valve.

In a laboratory amongst a number of investigations, we have received funding from the National Institute of Health and other organizations in researching G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, and membrane protein folding and structure, as well as for studies investigating mechanisms when the body creates its own cornary bypass, so that we may use this knowledge in innovative new clinical therapies.