CVRI Celebrates 50th Birthday

UCSF's Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI) celebrates 50 years on Wednesday, May 7, with a special science symposium and groundbreaking on the site of its new, 236,000-square-foot laboratory building in Mission Bay. The morning symposium will honor the institute's achievements in cardiovascular research and describe the direction it will take in the future. The groundbreaking ceremony, hosted by UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, will take place at 4 p.m. "For 50 years, UCSF CVRI scientists have worked across disciplines to attack cardiovascular disease," says Shaun Coughlin, MD, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine and director of the CVRI. "Their partnerships led to major advances in understanding and in medical care, aiding everyone from infants with respiratory problems to adults with thrombosis." To establish the institute, CVRI recruited outstanding biomedical scientists from within and outside the United States. By the mid-1960s, it already was recognized internationally. It was one of the first scientific institutes designed to foster medical research across departments by forming multidisciplinary teams in which experts in specific fields worked together to solve problems. Celebrating 50 Years of Progress at CVRI
  • 1958: Catheterization for congenital anomalies CVRI investigators were at the forefront of applying cardiac catheterization to pediatrics. This revolutionized the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. (Michael Heymann, MD, Abraham Rudoph, MD, and Julien Hoffman, MD)
  • 1961-1972: Surfactant reduces infant respiratory distress mortality by 50 percent The lungs of premature infants cannot yet make surfactant, a substance that allows the lungs to inflate properly. CVRI investigators discovered, characterized and developed surfactant as a therapy for infant respiratory distress syndrome, resulting in the largest drop in infant mortality in the United States in modern history. (John Clements, MD, and William Tooley, MD)
  • 1976: Indomethacin averts major surgery in newborns Babies with the life-threatening congenital heart abnormality called patent ductus arteriosus needed immediate major surgery until CVRI investigators demonstrated that intervention with indomethacin, a common anti-inflammatory drug, successfully improved their condition. (Michael Heymann, MD, Abraham Rudolph, MD, and Norman Silverman, MD)
  • 1976-1980: Understanding diastolic dysfunction UCSF Cardiology and CVRI investigators discovered that, in addition to abnormal contraction, abnormal relaxation of the heart can contribute to heart failure. This finding enhanced the understanding of heart failure. (Stanton Glantz, PhD, and William Grossman, MD)
  • 1987: ACE inhibitors extend life UCSF Cardiology and CVRI investigators helped demonstrate that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can improve and extend the lives of congestive heart failure patients. (Kanu Chatterjee, MB)
  • 1988-1998: Eptifibatide prevents heart attacks More than 1 million patients per year benefit from eptifibatide, a drug that prevents clotting in the arteries that supply the heart during angioplasty and unstable angina, thereby preventing heart attacks. Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) and CVRI investigators guided the discovery and development of this drug. (David Phillips, PhD, and Israel Charo, MD, PhD)
  • 1991: Discovery of platelet thrombin receptor for prevention of blood clots CVRI scientists discovered and cloned the platelet thrombin receptor, and showed how it regulates blood clotting. This enabled the development of a new and potentially revolutionary class of clot-preventing drugs that are now in clinical trials. (Shaun Coughlin, MD, PhD)
  • 1992: Cloning of VEGF receptor leads to improved cancer survival Tumors depend on the growth of new blood vessels stimulated by the protein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). In collaboration with Genentech scientists, CVRI investigators cloned the VEGF receptor, a key step in the eventual development of anti-angiogenesis drugs, which target the blood vessels that cancer cells need to grow. Avastin and similar drugs are now widely used in treating colorectal, lung and breast cancer. (Lewis Williams, MD, PhD)
  • 1994: MCP receptor cloned for blocking inflammation GICD and CVRI scientists discovered and cloned the receptor for monocyte chemo-attractant protein (MCP), which regulates the behavior of inflammatory cells in atherosclerotic plaques and other settings. This work led to the development of a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs now in clinical trials. (Israel Charo, MD, PhD, and Shaun Coughlin, MD, PhD)
  • 1995: Catheter-based ablation restores heart rhythm UCSF Cardiology and CVRI investigators pioneered catheter-based ablation therapy, which can cure some types of heart rhythm problems without open heart surgery. (Melvin Scheinman, MD)
  • 1997: IgE inhibition leads to fewer asthma attacks and new asthma drugs CVRI investigators showed that inflammation and the overproduction of IgE, a natural immunoglobulin, are a key cause of allergic asthma attacks. These proof-of-concept studies eventually resulted in an entirely new class of asthma drugs, including Xolair. (Homer Boushey, MD)
  • 2000-2006: Genotyping via HapMap to help predict disease risk factors CVRI scientists helped conceive high-throughput genotyping via the haplotype map of the human genome (HapMap), a tool that helps link genetic variants to the risk for specific illnesses. Building on HapMap data, CVRI investigators seek to develop measures to predict cardiovascular diseases and to tailor preventive measures to a patient's particular risk factors. (Pui-Yan Kwok, MD, PhD)
  • 2001: LTV ventilation improves recovery chances for distressed lung patients Trauma to the lung or serious infection sometimes results in potentially fatal adult respiratory distress syndrome. CVRI investigators showed that low tidal volume (LTV) ventilation is better than the standard method of inflating the lungs of such patients supported on a ventilator, decreasing the mortality rate in this setting. (Michael Matthay, MD)
  • 2002 Role of collectins revealed as important to immunity CVRI scientists uncovered the roles of collectins, natural lung proteins important to both innate and acquired immunity. This work may enable development of a new class of antimicrobial agents. (Sam Hawgood, MB, BS)
  • 2007: New genes associated with heart attack and stroke By comparing thousands of DNA samples from individuals with aggressive coronary heart disease with samples from older, unaffected individuals, CVRI investigators identified several new genes associated with increased risk of heart attacks. These genes suggest the existence of some previously unrecognized mechanisms and potential new strategies for risk reduction. (John Kane, MD, PhD, and Mary Malloy, MD)