Maxwell M. Wintrobe, M.D., former Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, initiated and developed the concept of a cardiovascular research institute at the University of Utah School of Medicine. In 1971 he recruited J. A. Abildskov, MD, a University of Utah graduate and distinguished cardiologist/researcher, as the first permanent Director of CVRTI. Under his able leadership the Institute became internationally recognized for its important contributions to the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Dr. Abildskov retired as director in 1994 and continues as an active CVRTI faculty member. Robert L. Lux, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, served as Director from 1994 to 1999 and the present Director is Kenneth W. Spitzer, PhD, Professor of Physiology.
Through the generous financial support of Nora Eccles Harrison, Richard A. Harrison and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation the Institute expanded to its present 27,000 square feet.
CVRTI personnel include faculty investigators, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, support staff, and core personnel.
The overall objective of CVRTI's research is to better
understand how both normal and diseased hearts generate
electrical signals and how these signals modulate
contraction. Such knowledge provides a basis for more
effective treatment of arrhythmias and other disease states
that affect ion movements across heart cell membranes. Our
multidisciplinary team of investigators includes physicians,
bioengineers, physiologists, and computational modelers who
approach these goals from the molecular, cellular and whole
heart levels. Thus, CVRTI provides a highly integrated
approach to the study of cardiac electrophysiology and ion
transport. CVRTI investigators conduct cutting edge research
in the following specific areas: