Vascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality nationally and worldwide and disproportionately contributes to increased health care expenditures. Therefore it is a critical target for biomedical research that warrants greatly enhanced focus at the University of Colorado. Building state of the art capacity for Vascular Biology research at the UCD and affiliates will accelerate not only research on the vasculature and thus cardiovascular disease, but will have critical application for cancer therapeutics as well as informing the biology of psychiatric disorders and metabolism. It is essential to build a cohesive Vascular Biology Research Community at the University of Colorado AMC and affiliates to enhance our research enterprise. Addressing the current gap in collaborative Vascular biology Research will accelerate current research and support new emerging research thus creating a locus of research in an area ripe for development at this institution.
Initiative for Vascular Biology Research:
Goals: To create a visible and navigable research community for Vascular Biology. This will be accomplished by networking the many excellent researchers in various aspects of Vascular Biology at this institution into research clusters and identifying opportunities for accelerating collaborative research.
Why is it important? There are several key scientific reasons why creating this Center at this time at this institution is of critical importance. Vascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world, vascular imaging and delivery systems are the cutting edge in cancer therapeutics, blood flow and metabolism are the entrée into unraveling human brain function and behavior. Formulation of a cohesive research program in Vascular Biology will accelerate research quality and productivity in the School of Medicine.
Why is it timely? This is the era of translational medicine. It is critical that the Vascular Biology research expertise at UCD evolve beyond its current productive clusters into a Vascular Biology research community. Through this strategy the extensive research base at this institution will become familiar with each other’s expertise. It is anticipated that increased communication will become a foundation for collaborations and scientific synergies. This will accelerate research in Vascular Biology UC to become a national force in translational Vascular Biology.