Though our work is complex, our mission is simple: improving lives through patient-focused scientific research. At HMRI, we focus our studies on the heart, the brain, and the vascular intersection between the two, working tirelessly to uncover solutions to some of the most daunting healthcare challenges. Every day, we challenge the status quo and explore new and uncharted methods of treatment, believing that someday questions will be answered. Cures will be found. Lives will be changed.

Diving deep into the unknowns of Alzheimer's and related dementia, our neurosciences team pores over healthy brains as they age in order to pinpoint the origins of disease—and how we might someday stop it in its tracks.

Scientific studies have linked mental illness to abnormal blood vessels that form during brain development, long before a person is born. But there is hope: HMRI's neurovascular scientists have discovered methods of repairing the abnormal blood vessels, normalizing brain development— and potentially preventing the origin of mental illness.

Vaping and e-cigarettes gained widespread popularity as a "safer" way to smoke; however, science continues to prove that "safer" doesn't mean safe. HMRI's cardiovascular experts launched a study to determine how toxic the practice is to the heart. But in the very early stages of research, they made a glaring discovery: severe lung injury caused by the heating element in some devices.

The Opioid Epidemic is largely attributed to a 20-year increase in prescription of opioid medications. HMRI's colorectal researchers have developed pathways and protocols that can help surgical patients to recover quicker and more efficiently, relying less on opioid painkillers. Their Enhanced Recovery Pathways (ERPs), coupled with minimally invasive procedures, have cut the previous 4- to 6-week recovery time by more than half.