Cardiovascular Research

Cardiovascular research continues to be a major focus at Saint Luke’s Health System. The program currently encompasses research programs in each of the major clinical areas, including:

  • Adult congenital heart disease
  • Cardiac electrophysiology
  • Cardiac imaging
  • Cardiac surgery
  • Cardiac transplantation
  • Diabetes management
  • Heart failure
  • Interventional cardiology
  • Preventive cardiology/lipid
  • Women's heart health

Hundreds of patients enroll in these programs annually for a broad range of randomized trials and registry-based research studies, making the programs essential to the mission of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute. Research allows the Heart Institute to remain on the leading edge of cardiovascular care. In addition to these clinical research programs, many Heart Institute cardiologists participate in research through the Ben D. McCallister Clinical Scholars Program, which provides funding and support for investigator-initiated studies.

In addition to supporting clinical research, the cardiovascular research program encompasses centers of excellence and core laboratories in cardiovascular outcomes research, health economics and technology assessment, intravascular imaging, and noninvasive imaging. These centers of excellence currently serve as core laboratories for a wide range of studies that often involve collaboration with other leading cardiovascular centers and researchers from around the world. The Heart Institute continues to serve as one of the four Analytic Centers, along with Duke, Harvard, and Yale, for the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

Contact Us

For more information, call 816-932-4581.

News

Apr. 8, 2024
MEDIA COVERAGE: Obesity Medication Proves Effective in Treating Patients with Obesity-Related Heart Failure and Type 2 Diabetes
A new study led by Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod found patients with obesity-related heart failure and type 2 diabetes had significant improvement in symptoms and physical limitations when taking semaglutide.
Apr. 8, 2024
CNN: Weight-Loss Drug Wegovy Offers Benefits for People with Diabetes and Common Form of Heart Failure, Study Finds
The popular weight loss drug Wegovy seems to provide more health benefits for people who have diabetes and a common kind of heart failure than just helping take off the pounds, according to the results from the STEP HFpEF DM trial.
Apr. 8, 2024
Good Morning America: New Report on the Effect of Weight Loss Drugs on Heart Disease
A new study led by Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod found patients with obesity-related heart failure and diabetes had a significant improvement in symptoms when taking semaglutide.
Mar. 20, 2024
Higher Omega-3 Levels Associated with Improved Life Expectancy
New study led by Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute cardiologists reveals lower risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality associated with higher docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) blood levels
Feb. 15, 2024
TCTMD: Study IDs Patients Most Likely to Quit Smoking After ASCVD Event
TCTMD talked to Dr. Vittal Hejjaji about a large registry study that looked at when patients quit smoking following an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease event.
Dec. 20, 2023
Kansas City Business Journal: Kansas City-Led Clinical Trial on Popular Weight-Loss Drug is Honored as a 'Breakthrough of the Year'
A groundbreaking study, led by Mikhail Kosiborod, MD, vice president of research at Saint Luke's Health System, has been named the scientific breakthrough of the year by Science Magazine.
Oct. 27, 2023
TCDMD: TRILUMINATE Deep Dive Clarifies 'Meaningful' Quality of Life Gains with Tricuspid TEER
Dr. Suzanne Arnold presented findings from the pivotal TRILUMINATE trial.
Oct. 25, 2023
New York Times: Even Short Runs Have Major Health Benefits
Dr. James O'Keefe explains why even short runs have major health benefits.
Oct. 13, 2023
Cardiovascular Business: Flurpiridaz Will Have a Major Impact on Cardiac PET and Nuclear Imaging
Dr. Timothy Bateman spoke with Cardiovascular Business about his group's findings and what it is like to work with flurpiridaz.
Aug. 26, 2023
Good Morning America: New Study Highlights Benefits to Weight Loss Drugs
Semaglutide, the active ingredient on weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, shows evidence that the drug may also help reduce the risks of heart disease.
Jul. 28, 2023
U.S. News & World Report: Asian-Americans Less Likely to Survive Cardiac Arrest Despite Equal CPR Efforts
Asian adults in the U.S. who suffer cardiac arrest are less likely to survive than white adults, despite similar rates of receiving bystander CPR.
Apr. 27, 2023
TCTMD: Aging, Angina, and Invasive Management: Some Nuance From ISCHEMIA
In a new analysis, researchers looked at how older patients in the ISCHEMIA trial responded to invasive strategy compared with more conservative management.
Nov. 16, 2020
New Research Finds Promising Therapy to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease
A new study co-authored by Saint Luke’s cardiologist James O’Keefe, MD suggests that therapies to block a hormone called TNF can greatly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Nov. 11, 2020
U.S. News & World Report: High ozone levels up cardiac arrest risk: study
High levels of ozone air pollution could increase the risk of cardiac arrest, according to a new study. Dr. Ali Malik explains why the findings may have important public health implications.
Oct. 27, 2020
U.S. News & World Report: MRIs might be safe for patients with implanted heart devices
Dr. Sanjaya Gupta explains the findings of the recent study and what this means for patients moving forward.