Our Mission

The Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center was established to expand basic, translational, and clinical research of cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases, including congestive heart failure, hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, aneurysms, and vascular auto-immune diseases are the most common cause of death and disability in the United States, and account for approximately 30% of deaths and health care costs annually in this country and developed societies.

The mission of the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center is to support interdisciplinary research in basic, translational and clinical cardiovascular sciences, including cardiovascular development, function, pathophysiology, pharmacology, genetics, genomics, and proteomics, and to apply this knowledge to better understand the causes of cardiovascular diseases and to pioneer development of new innovative therapies and approaches to prevent or treat them.

Goals and Objectives

  • To support basic, translational, and clinical research that can be translated into therapies and improve patient care
  • To provide resources that enhance research in cardiovascular related diseases
  • To disseminate knowledge by lectures, seminars and other educational opportunities
  • To support training of pre- and postgraduate students, residents and fellows in the cardiovascular sciences and cardiovascular medicine
  • To help integrate cardiovascular research across labs, departments, and schools at UVA as well as with outside institutions including facilitating collaborative studies
  • To assist CVRC investigators in developing a plan for translating research findings into products or procedures that benefit patients including providing advice on protecting intellectual property, establishing biotech startup companies, and licensing technology to companies

Dr. Brant Isakson of the CVRC Awarded a $2.6 Million Grant to Study the Role of Renin in Hypertension
Dr. Brant Isakson of the CVRC Awarded a $2.6 Million Grant to Study the Role of Renin in Hypertension

Hypertension is the most common pathological indicator for cardiovascular diseases. The key biological system that regulates blood pressure is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS); its dysregulation at almost any level can precipitate hypertension. For this reason, pathways in the RAAS can … Read More

Mete Civelek, PhD, Receives Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association
Mete Civelek, PhD, Receives Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association

Mete Civelek, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a resident faculty of the Center for Public Health Genomics, received the Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association. The five-year grant supports established investigators who … Read More

Ken Walsh, PhD, Awarded $2.9 Million to Study Cardiac Amyloidosis, a Deadly Form of Heart Failure
Ken Walsh, PhD, Awarded $2.9 Million to Study Cardiac Amyloidosis, a Deadly Form of Heart Failure

Ken Walsh, PhD, the Lockhart B. McGuire Professor of Internal Medicine and director of the Hematovascular Biology Center in the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center, was awarded a $2.9 million NIH grant for a project titled “Mosaic Loss of … Read More

Dr. Mete Civelek, PhD Featured in Article: In Our Cellular Glue, Scientists Discover Answers About Heart Attacks, Stroke, More
Dr. Mete Civelek, PhD Featured in Article: In Our Cellular Glue, Scientists Discover Answers About Heart Attacks, Stroke, More

University of Virginia School of Medicine scientists have found important answers about strokes, heart attacks and cardiovascular diseases by probing the biological glue our bodies create to protect us from those deadly dangers. The researchers, led by Mete Civelek, PhD, … Read More


CVTG RIP – Elevator Pitches

Trainees should prepare a 3-4 minute introduction about themselves and their project—no slides! Also, remember that the audience will be quiet diverse from 2nd year graduate students just getting into labs to faculty and also from very different areas. These … Read More

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MR5 Room 1005,
MR5 Room 1005,

CVTG RIP – Hot Seats

A trainee is randomly selected (by pulling a name from a jar) to give a 5-6 minute summary of their research project without slides indicating why their project is important, what has been done so far, what needs to be … Read More

Find out more
MR6 Room 2502,