The MHI Research Centre has laboratories that conduct basic research, clinical research and technology research. Our teams are supported by master's, doctoral and post-doctoral students, clinical research supervisors and fellows, health care professionals, technicians, and administrative and clerical staff.
Our researchers also rely on administrative staff to request and manage research grants and submit journal articles, manuscripts, conference presentations and more. In addition to major research infrastructure, researchers also have access to a digital angiography room and two sterile surgical rooms. The Centre's budget is currently $50 million.
Pharmaceutical and other industries along with provincial, national and international granting agencies provide 85% of the Centre's revenue. The Montreal Heart Institute Foundation provides the remainder by prioritizing seed money for new researchers. Our research teams work in a modern, functional and welcoming 6-floor building (7,300 m2) that contains space equipped with cutting-edge technology.
MHI researchers publish an average of 350 scientific articles every year in such prestigious international journals as:
The MHI can provide cutting-edge care based on the latest medical developments and transfer the benefits directly and quickly to its patients because, since its founding, it has developed a significant heritage of research activity that has led to major scientific and medical breakthroughs in the cardiovascular field.
The vision statement that guides the Research Centre's latest development plan (2010-2015), which is to “make major discoveries in the cardiovascular field that will ultimately contribute to improving patient care and public health,” is supported by a critical mass of exceptional-quality researchers with converging scientific interests.
This group of renowned international scientists combined with the acquisition and development of cutting-edge infrastructure in basic and clinical research—such as cardiovascular imaging, pharmacogenomics, integrative biology, metabolomics, and personalized medicine—form the foundations of the MHI's strategy.
The Research Centre's 2010-2015 strategic development plan is part of the overall strategic planning of the Montreal Heart Institute for the same period and is a continuation of the previous decade's strategic research choices; it is also in line with the Institute's orientations in the areas of prevention, care and teaching.
Make major discoveries in the cardiovascular field that will ultimately contribute to improving patient care and public health is the central statement of the Institute's research vision. Two major orientations were chosen for overall planning: in clinical research, invest in the Montreal Health Innovations Coordinating Center (MHICC) for national and international growth and in the hospital cohort as an integrative and motivating project; in basic research, ensure the longevity of platforms and prioritize the discovery, development and validation of biomarkers.
This vision is also based primarily on the renewed expression of a consistent scientific vision underpinned by solid and dynamic research themes that the Centre has built for decades, by cross-disciplinary scientific approaches that are tailor-made to meet the challenges of these research themes, and finally by cutting-edge tools and infrastructure that support the whole. As preclinical and clinical research activities form the basis of scientific and medical progress, the Research Centre's vascular, myocardial and electrophysiology themes continue to form the core of the Centre's scientific orientations.
The past decade for the Centre has seen a fast-paced, structured and solid development of scientific approaches that cut across all research themes and result in new scientific foundations based on even greater interactions between basic research and clinical research. Two of these cross-disciplinary scientific approaches involve genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics. The third approach is based on biological processes that are highly involved in the cardiovascular system, such as inflammation. This approach uses a two-way translational research model in which individual genes inform work on major clinical studies and patient information informs basic research; this applies to all cardiovascular diseases represented within the Centre’s research themes. This approach has immense potential to quickly translate discoveries into patient benefits. As a result, the development plan includes a major institutional project that bridges disciplines, brings people together, and focuses research on the patient: the development of personalized medicine.
Vision and mission
The MHI can provide cutting-edge care based on the latest medical developments and transfer the benefits directly and quickly to its patients because, since its founding, it has developed a significant heritage of research activity that has led to major scientific and medical breakthroughs in the cardiovascular field.
The vision statement that guides the Research Centre's latest development plan (2010-2015), which is to “make major discoveries in the cardiovascular field that will ultimately contribute to improving patient care and public health,” is supported by a critical mass of exceptional-quality researchers with converging scientific interests.
This group of renowned international scientists combined with the acquisition and development of cutting-edge infrastructure in basic and clinical research—such as cardiovascular imaging, pharmacogenomics, integrative biology, metabolomics, and personalized medicine—form the foundations of the MHI's strategy.
Strategic plans
The Research Centre's 2010-2015 strategic development plan is part of the overall strategic planning of the Montreal Heart Institute for the same period and is a continuation of the previous decade's strategic research choices; it is also in line with the Institute's orientations in the areas of prevention, care and teaching.
Make major discoveries in the cardiovascular field that will ultimately contribute to improving patient care and public health is the central statement of the Institute's research vision. Two major orientations were chosen for overall planning: in clinical research, invest in the Montreal Health Innovations Coordinating Center (MHICC) for national and international growth and in the hospital cohort as an integrative and motivating project; in basic research, ensure the longevity of platforms and prioritize the discovery, development and validation of biomarkers.
This vision is also based primarily on the renewed expression of a consistent scientific vision underpinned by solid and dynamic research themes that the Centre has built for decades, by cross-disciplinary scientific approaches that are tailor-made to meet the challenges of these research themes, and finally by cutting-edge tools and infrastructure that support the whole. As preclinical and clinical research activities form the basis of scientific and medical progress, the Research Centre's vascular, myocardial and electrophysiology themes continue to form the core of the Centre's scientific orientations.
The past decade for the Centre has seen a fast-paced, structured and solid development of scientific approaches that cut across all research themes and result in new scientific foundations based on even greater interactions between basic research and clinical research. Two of these cross-disciplinary scientific approaches involve genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics. The third approach is based on biological processes that are highly involved in the cardiovascular system, such as inflammation. This approach uses a two-way translational research model in which individual genes inform work on major clinical studies and patient information informs basic research; this applies to all cardiovascular diseases represented within the Centre’s research themes. This approach has immense potential to quickly translate discoveries into patient benefits. As a result, the development plan includes a major institutional project that bridges disciplines, brings people together, and focuses research on the patient: the development of personalized medicine.