Through the thought leadership of our physician-scientists, cutting-edge analytics, and operational expertise, the DCRI leads the way in improving care and outcomes for patients with cardiovascular disease.
Honoring a Legacy by Transforming the Future of CV Care
The DCRI traces its roots back to 1969 with the founding of the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease, the world’s oldest and largest cardiovascular database. The DCRI has built on this history by conducting landmark clinical trials and making discoveries that have changed the field of cardiology.
Today, the Cardiovascular research team streamlines the clinical research process through innovative study design, fit-for-purpose approaches, thoughtful analytics, and a commitment to rapid knowledge dissemination and implementation science. DCRI’s practicing cardiologists partner with statistical and operational experts to translate novel therapeutic concepts into effective and efficient studies.
Groundbreaking discoveries from the DCRI regularly result in:
- Presentations at major cardiovascular conferences
- Updates to guidelines administered by professional medical associations
- Critical decisions by regulatory bodies
Our Clinical Expertise
- Acute coronary syndromes
- Antithrombotics/thrombosis
- Chronic coronary artery disease and coronary atherosclerosis
- Dyslipidemia and hyperlipidemia
- Cardiac surgery
- Cardiovascular genetics and genomics
- Cardiac diagnostic testing
- Electrophysiology
- Atrial fibrillation
- Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators
- Antiarrhythmic agents
- Geriatric cardiology
- Heart failure
- Pediatric cardiology
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease
- Metabolic disorders
- Risk modeling for coronary disease
- Valvular heart disease
ADAPTABLE Models EHR-Enabled Research
The DCRI shared results at ACC from ADAPTABLE, the first pragmatic trial to recruit 15,000 patients using EHRs. This recruitment strategy was made possible by leveraging PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. In addition to EHRs, the team also used many other pragmatic approaches, from remote follow up via an online patient portal to working with patient partners to design and conduct the trial.
Read about ADAPTABLE's recent top honor by the Clinical Research Forum
Bringing Cardiovascular Expertise to COVID-19 Care
DCRI cardiologists are adapting their research and patient care to meet the world’s most acute public health challenge—COVID-19.
- See results from BRACE-CORONA, the first randomized controlled trial examining whether it is safe to continue the use of certain heart failure therapies in patients with COVID-19.
- Learn how DCRI cardiologist Tracy Wang, MD, MHS, MSc, is working with the American Heart Association on a COVID-19 registry that is revealing important insights such as the prevalence of racial and ethnic health disparities in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
- Read about how a DCRI cardiology fellow led the creation of a framework for treating patients with cardiovascular complications caused by COVID-19.
A Pragmatic Approach to Fit a Research Question
When faced with a research question, DCRI faculty leverage their deep expertise in trial design to determine how to best find the answer. Karen Alexander, MD, discusses the pragmatic approaches taken in designing the PREVENTABLE trial, which aims to examine whether statins are effective when prescribed to adults aged 75 and older.
Highlights
ANALYZING THE GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVED ADHERENCE
Less than half of the patients with first-detected atrial fibrillation (AFib) receive rhythm control at admission, according to data analysis from the nationwide Get With The Guidelines®-Atrial Fibrillation Registry (GWTG-AF).
CREATING A NOVEL PEDIATRIC ECG DATA WAREHOUSE
A new project led by the Cardiac Safety Research Consortium created a first-in-kind data warehouse to help ensure comprehensive cardiac safety review for therapeutic product development for children.
EXPEDITING EVIDENCE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR PREVENTION AND CARE
A new consortium called the CardioHealth Alliance will bring together a multi-disciplinary group of experts to improve the care and health of patients across cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases.
Related Services
Providing Heart Rhythm Evaluation and Adjudication
The DCRI’s Arrhythmia Core Lab (ACL) evaluates and adjudicates electrograms and electrocardiograms for clinical trials.
Applying Clinical Insights to Digital Health Innovation
The DCRI’s Digital Health Solutions group partners with a variety of digital health innovators to apply clinical insights to digital technologies and methods.
Cardiovascular Leadership at the DCRI
G. Michael Felker, MD, Director
Michael Felker, MD, MHS, is a Professor of Medicine with tenure in the Division of Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center and the head of Cardiovascular Research at the DCRI. He served as Chief of the Heart Failure Section at Duke University School of Medicine from 2013 to 2020. Felker completed his medical training at Duke University School of Medicine, his internal medicine training at Johns Hopkins Hospital where he was chief resident, and his cardiology training at Duke. Felker’s research focus is on clinical trials in acute and chronic heart failure and the use of biomarkers as diagnostics, prognostic, and therapeutic tools in heart failure.
Felker has published over 320 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the field of heart failure. He has served on the executive and steering committees for multiple national and international clinical trials in heart failure. He directs the Advanced Heart Failure Transplant Cardiology Fellowship Training Program at Duke University School of Medicine. Felker is an editorial board member or peer reviewer for multiple high-impact medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet, Circulation, and JACC. He is the Associate Editor of JACC: Heart Failure and co-editor of Heart Failure: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease, the leading heart failure textbook. He is a member of the Heart Failure Society of America Board of Directors.
DCRI Cardiovascular Faculty
DCRI’s world-renowned cardiovascular faculty are dedicated to advancing clinical research through innovation, designing scientifically rigorous studies, sharing knowledge, and education. Meet Our Faculty
DCRI Cardiovascular Fellows
DCRI has a longstanding commitment to developing the next generation of clinical researchers, including those specializing in the field of cardiovascular research. Learn About Our Fellows
Contact Us
Engage DCRI’s physician-scientists in cardiovascular research by contacting Carolyn Moore Arias, Director, Strategic Engagement.