The Academic Award in Vascular Disease will be used to develop a comprehensive clinical, training, and research program in systemiC and pulmonary vascular diseases at the Center for Vascular Diseases, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The mission of the Center will be to provide comprehensive evaluation, and medical and surgical treatment, of patients with peripheral arterial disease, severe pulmonary hypertension, thrombophlebitis, hypercoagulable states, chronic venous disease, cerebrovascular disease and vasospastic diseases. Laboratory support will include sophisticated clinical vascular laboratories, heart catheter laboratories, MRI imaging to assess the systemic and pulmonary circulations, and a coagulation laboratory. An extensive patient registry has been established to monitor the clinical characteristics and status of all patients with vascular diseases in the University system. The Center will provide specialized training for medical students, surgical and medical house staff, graduate students, and Pulmonary and Cardiology fellows. The Center will support two dedicated vascular fellows each year for specialized clinical and research training. Clinical research will focus on the development of exercise rehabilitation and new drug therapies for claudication. Basic vascular biology research will address the role of disordered cell proliferation in the pathogenesis of severe pulmonary hypertension, as well as the mechanisms of the regulation of pulmonary vascular tone. The effects of ischemia on skeletal muscle metabolism and mitochondrial gene expression will also be evaluated. These clinical, training and research programs will be highly integrated, with weekly clinical specialty conferences to coordinate patient care, and a monthly vascular grand rounds as a focus for the training and research activities. Thus, this Center for Vascular Disease will provide a unique mechanism for the integration of clinical care in vascular diseases, the education of clinician/scientists in systemic and pulmonary vascular diseases, and for clinical and basic vascular biology research.
