Hypertension and Vascular Research Division

Mission

The mission of the Hypertension and Vascular Research Division is to advance our understanding of the physiology of the renal-cardiovascular systems in the etiology of hypertension and renal and cardiovascular disease. Our ultimate objective is to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with hypertension and end organ damage which afflicts more than 60% of the U.S. population.

Our hypertension research endeavors represent a diverse and integrated program with state-of-the-art expertise in:

• Transport physiology
• Cell biology
• Cardiac molecular biology
• Renal physiology and pathophysiology
• Cardiac physiology and pathophysiology
• Genetic models of disease

Issues in these fields are addressed in an integrated manner that would not be possible without such a broad range of expertise. This approach promotes productivity and offers a broad range of training options.

Overview

Nearly 50 percent of all deaths in the United States are due to some form of cardiovascular disease, including heart failure and stroke. The mission of the Division of Hypertension and Vascular Research is to advance scientific knowledge in the field of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, with the objective of reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Our research endeavors represent a diverse and integrated program with state-of-the-art expertise ranging from molecular and cell biology to whole-organism physiology. Important issues in these fields are addressed in an integrated manner that would not be possible without such a broad range of expertise. This approach promotes productivity and offers a broad range of training options.

The Division of Hypertension and Vascular Research is currently made up of:

• 13 full-time research scientists and physicians
• Three administrative support personnel
• One editor
• 12 full-time post-doctoral M.D. and Ph.D. research fellows
• Two part-time clinical fellows rotating as research fellows
• Seven scientific technical support personnel, and
• Various medical, graduate and undergraduate student interns

The Hypertension and Vascular Research Division receives nearly $3.5 million in research grants annually from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and its affiliates and pharmaceutical companies.

Henry Ford Hospital is a major research and teaching institution in southeastern Michigan with nearly $60 million in extramural funding placing us first in funding among independent research hospitals in the state, ranking fourth in Michigan among all academic institutions, and in the top 7 percent of all institutions nationally receiving peer-reviewed funding from the National Institutes of Health. Many of the Hypertension and Vascular Research Division's faculty also have academic credentials in both the graduate and medical schools of Wayne State University in Detroit.