|
Established in 1997, the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center is comprised of seventeen gifted investigators and physician-scientists teamed with over eighty highly-trained staff and engaged trainees. The MCRI has as its mission the study of molecular mechanisms of human cardiovascular disease; translation of bench findings to new bedside strategies for diagnosis and therapy; and the mentoring of MD and PhD trainees committed to a career in academic cardiovascular research.
The scientists and laboratories in the MCRI seek answers to the following types of questions:
· What are the root causes of high blood pressure?
· Why does estrogen make a difference?
· How can we simulate the protective effects of estrogen to make hormone treatments safer?
· How do genetics play a role in cardiovascular disease?
· What is the link between cholesterol and high blood pressure?
Because this research is typically done at the laboratory bench, this type of research defines “bench” in the term “bench-to-bedside”. This critical research is the pathway to groundbreaking medical discoveries that fuel new diagnostic tests and novel therapies that are then used by physicians and other healthcare providers in the medical setting or at the “bedside.”
How You Can Help
Your gift to the MCRI supports scientific advances through innovative bench-to-bedside research, the recruitment and retention of talented researchers and the mentoring of tomorrow’s cardiovascular research scientists. You can make a general donation to the MCRI or designate your gift to one of the following specific programs:
The MCRI Innovative Research Fund - designed to provide support for studies in their pilot phase and funds for new technology. Armed with data funded by pilot project grants, MCRI investigators’ multi-million dollar grant applications to national funding agencies such as the NIH and American Heart Association are more competitive. Alternatively, the Innovative Research Fund can provide support for an expensive piece of equipment representing the latest technology necessary to advance a particular area of exploration.
The MCRI Recruitment and Retention Fund – designed to support the extensive costs of recruiting and retaining top talent. Recruitment funds have been used to recruit several investigators and physician-scientists to Tufts Medical Center. Talented physician-scientists enhance Tufts Medical Center’s highly-rated clinical cardiology service and establish their basic research laboratories in the MCRI. Our physician-scientists also play a critical role in the training of future physician-scientists. Top-tier PhD recruits enhance our research environment further and have generated some of the MCRI’s most promising results to date.
The MCRI Cardiovascular Research Training Fund – designed to support the costs of training tomorrow’s cardiovascular research scientists. These restricted funds are set aside to support a variety of expenses related to the training of post-doctoral fellows who follow a personalized research training program. Funds are used to support stipends, additional coursework and small research projects directed by the fellows themselves. These funds also allow us to increase the number of trainees in our midst and in some instances are necessary to fully support the costs of training as some training grants only partially fund the actual cost of training a future cardiovascular research scientist.
The MCRI Director’s Fund – designed to support areas of emergent need within the MCRI. The availability of unrestricted funds allows the MCRI Director to provide support for unexpected and unbudgeted expenses. For example, a costly piece of equipment used by most of the investigators in the MCRI may need replacement. In addition, rather than terminate a promising research pathway and/or the career of a talented research scientist due to a hiatus in external grant funding, the MCRI Director’s Fund provides interim or gap funding for its investigators while they seek restoration of their external research funding base.
For naming gifts or additional information, please contact:
Tufts Medical Center Development Office
617-636-7656
|