At the Front Lines of Heart Disease

Cardiovascular disease accounts for a quarter of all deaths in the United States each year, more than the next five causes of death combined. Since 1962, Texas Heart^® Institute (THI) at St. Luke’s Health–Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has been on the  frontlines in the battle to end it by training cardiologists, heart surgeons, imaging specialists in cardiovascular medicine and cardiac electrophysiology, pathologists, and educating hundreds of cardiovascular specialists.

For more than 20 years, James T. Willerson, MD, President and Director of Cardiology Research at THI, has been playing a pivotal role in numerous groundbreaking advancements.

THI, an international leader in mechanical circulatory support research, has implanted more left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and performed more heart transplants than any other institution in the nation. Now, with an alliance with St. Luke’s Health and Baylor College of Medicine^®, THI is making great strides in the area of cardiac regeneration, using stem cells to repair and regenerate damaged hearts.

Dr. Willerson and the physicians and researchers with THI, St. Luke’s, and are convinced that prevention is the ultimate ally in the fight against cardiovascular disease. That’s why they are dedicated to pursuing more breakthroughs and discovering more methods of prevention than in any other era in medical history.

Learn more about what Dr. Willerson and researchers at THI, St. Luke’s Health, and Baylor College of Medicine® are doing in the fight against cardiovascular disease at texasheart.org/Research/index.cfm.