About Us

The Division of Cardiology offers a full range of services in every subspecialty of cardiovascular disease including interventional catheterization, heart failure and transplantation, arrhythmia, vascular disease, heart disease prevention, and non-invasive imaging; which includes ECHO, nuclear, and CT/MRI imaging.
 

Our mission at the University of Minnesota Medical School has four basic components: To advance the science and practice of cardiovascular medicine by performance of basic and clinical research; to train and mentor the future leaders of cardiovascular medicine; to share the knowledge and expertise of our faculty with our region's medical professionals and the public; and to provide clinical care that is both compassionate and state-of-the-art in prevention and diagnosis.

Our Accomplishments

Browse a timeline of the accomplishments that have made the Cardiovascular Division at the University of Minnesota a world leader in cardiovascular care and research.

Daniel J. Garry, M.D., Ph.D. St. Jude Medical Endowed Chair Director, Lillehei Heart Institute Chief, Cardiovascular Division University of Minnesota

Robert F. Wilson, M.D. Executive Medical Director University of Minnesota Physicians Cardiovascular Service Line Professor of Medicine University of Minnesota

Letter from the Division Chief and Clinical Director:

Providing outstanding, innovative clinical care to every patient is our guiding principle. It is the foundation for everything we do and the driving force behind our Lillehei Heart Institute/University of Minnesota Physicians Cardiovascular Program. We are pleased to share with you the scope of our program for service to you, your patients, family members, and friends.

Since the 1950s, our cardiovascular program has consistently ranked among the best in the United States. A few of our accomplishments in the past year include:

Clinical Care. We completely restructured our cardiovascular program to be like no other in the United States. The $235 million cardiovascular program now offers our pioneering discoveries to many more patients. Through various centers of excellence, enhanced collaborations among our physicians are resulting in outstanding care for patients.

Research. The daily dedication and work of our physician-scientists to translate their research discoveries into new clinical treatments has led to our program being the only cardiovascular program accepted into the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Heart Failure Research Network and the NHLBI Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network. We are one of three recipients of the NHLBI-sponsored Product Assistance for Cellular Therapies, and also one of three institutions to be awarded an American Heart Association-DeHaan Cardiac Myogenesis Research Center Grant. Most notably, our recent membership in a $170 million NHLBI Progenitor Cell Network allows us to focus on a specific type of stem cell biology that will provide personalized stem cell therapy for patients with heart disease. In addition to these grants, our Lillehei Heart Institute’s total research grant funding has increased more than 250 percent over the last two years and includes more than four new patents for our discoveries.

Future Directions. Based on the strength of the Lillehei Heart Institute, the University of Minnesota has made significant investments in infrastructure, faculty support and recruitment, and core research facilities at the Institute. We are finalizing plans for a new cardiovascular building that will be home to the Lillehei Heart Institute. This new building – like the University’s Variety Club Heart Hospital, which was the first heart hospital in the United States in 1951 – will further advance our program and accelerate our research discoveries. With this support, we have already recruited an additional 15 outstanding cardiovascular experts and expect the University of Minnesota to continue being a magnet for cardiovascular leaders. Our ultimate goal is to be one of the top 10 cardiovascular programs in the world by 2015.

The University of Minnesota stands alone in its profound and lasting impact on advancing treatment for heart disease. We intend to continue that noble tradition, and invite you to join us on this most exciting medical journey to cure heart disease. Please take a few minutes to look through our web site. We also encourage you to call us with any questions about cardiovascular disease and our program at (612) 625-9100. We are here to be of service to you.