Our Mission

The Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center was established to expand basic, translational, and clinical research of cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases, including congestive heart failure, hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, aneurysms, and vascular auto-immune diseases are the most common cause of death and disability in the United States, and account for approximately 30% of deaths and health care costs annually in this country and developed societies.

The mission of the Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center is to support interdisciplinary research in basic, translational and clinical cardiovascular sciences, including cardiovascular development, function, pathophysiology, pharmacology, genetics, genomics, and proteomics, and to apply this knowledge to better understand the causes of cardiovascular diseases and to pioneer development of new innovative therapies and approaches to prevent or treat them.

Goals and Objectives

  • To support basic, translational, and clinical research that can be translated into therapies and improve patient care
  • To provide resources that enhance research in cardiovascular related diseases
  • To disseminate knowledge by lectures, seminars and other educational opportunities
  • To support training of pre- and postgraduate students, residents and fellows in the cardiovascular sciences and cardiovascular medicine
  • To help integrate cardiovascular research across labs, departments, and schools at UVA as well as with outside institutions including facilitating collaborative studies
  • To assist CVRC investigators in developing a plan for translating research findings into products or procedures that benefit patients including providing advice on protecting intellectual property, establishing biotech startup companies, and licensing technology to companies


MR6 Room 2502,
MR5 Room 3005,
MR6 Room 2502,

Elisa Boscolo, PhD

Cellular and molecular mechanisms driving aberrant development in a novel model of Venous Malformation  Patients with venous malformation (VM) develop vascular lesions consisting of massively enlarged and dysmorphic veins. These lesions cause significant disfigurement, chronic pain, and complications such as bleeding and … Read More

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MR5 Room 3005,

Maddie Jackson, PhD Candidate

TBD PhD Candidate, Hirschi Lab, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA

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MR5 Room 3005,