Advancing Discovery. Transforming Care.
Discovery is the foundation of everything we do at the Tulane Heart & Vascular Institute. Our physicians and researchers are working together to better understand cardiovascular disease, identify risk earlier, develop more personalized treatments, and improve outcomes for patients around the world.
By combining clinical expertise with advanced imaging, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, and translational research, we are accelerating discoveries that move from the laboratory to the bedside and back again. Every study, every clinical trial, and every collaboration brings us closer to a future where heart disease is detected earlier, treated more effectively, and, ultimately, prevented.
Our research spans the full spectrum of cardiovascular medicine, from pioneering digital health technologies and predictive algorithms to multicenter clinical trials and population health initiatives. Together, these efforts are redefining what is possible in cardiovascular care.
Research Projects Highlights
HEARTBEAT
The HEARTBEAT Study is a prospective, non-interventional research study conducted by Samsung and Tulane to evaluate how smartwatch-derived biometric data can help identify, predict, and better understand cardiovascular diseases and related conditions. Participants wear a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch for up to one year while completing study questionnaires through a companion app, allowing researchers to analyze heart rhythm, heart rate, oxygen saturation, sleep, activity, and other digital health signals alongside electronic health record data. The study aims to advance more proactive and personalized approaches to cardiovascular risk detection and disease monitoring.
GROWTH
The GROWTH study is a preclinical pig study designed to investigate how aging-related atrial fibrosis develops and how fibrotic remodeling may influence ablation lesion formation. The study uses targeted interventions to create localized fibrosis and remodeling patterns that can model features of aging-related atrial myopathy. Serial cardiac MRI is used to assess the extent, distribution, and progression of fibrosis over time and to correlate imaging findings with tissue-level remodeling and ablation lesion characteristics. This helps to evaluate
MIRA
The MIRA Registry is a prospective, observational, multicenter study designed to collect real-world data from patients undergoing atrial fibrillation ablation and use machine learning to predict ablation outcomes and identify favorable lesion strategies. The registry integrates baseline clinical characteristics, electroanatomic mapping data, lesion-by-lesion ablation parameters, procedural details, and 12-month rhythm outcomes from standard-of-care AF ablation procedures performed with CARTO-based technologies. An optional cardiac MRI sub-study will further assess how ablation lesions, voltage maps, and MRI-defined scar formation relate to durable procedural success.
SAPPORO-AF
The SAPPORO-AF pilot study is a prospective observational study evaluating whether baseline left atrial fibrosis measured by cardiac MRI can predict the risk of post-operative atrial fibrillation and other atrial arrhythmias in patients undergoing cardiac surgery without a prior history of atrial fibrillation. Participants undergo preoperative cardiac MRI with fibrosis staging, followed by standard-of-care surgery and in-hospital rhythm monitoring using telemetry or serial ECG. The study aims to determine whether atrial fibrosis can help identify patients at higher risk for post-operative arrhythmias, complications, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs.
ECHO-PPG
The PPG–Ejection Fraction pilot study evaluates whether photoplethysmography signals collected from wearable devices can help estimate left ventricular ejection fraction and other echocardiographic findings. Adults scheduled for a clinically indicated echocardiogram undergo simultaneous PPG and ECG recording using wearable technology while standard echocardiographic measurements, including ejection fraction, ventricular size, wall thickness, and structural findings, are collected. The study aims to develop and train predictive models that may support future noninvasive, low-cost screening approaches for cardiac dysfunction.
Healing Wheels
Healing Wheels is a single-visit, community-based educational and screening study designed to improve cardiovascular health awareness, atrial fibrillation education, and digital health literacy among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults in the Greater New Orleans area, including Black/African American communities. Through mobile clinic events held in partnership with community organizations, participants receive educational sessions, basic health screening, and rhythm assessment using portable tools such as blood pressure monitors, pulse oximetry, blood glucose testing, and mobile 6-lead ECG. The study also evaluates knowledge change, AF treatment awareness and adherence, and referral needs to help connect participants with appropriate local healthcare resources.
