Leadership in Research
At the Forefront of Cardiovascular Discovery
With innovations dating back to the founding of Beth Israel Hospital in 1916 and New England Deaconess Hospital in 1896, the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine has a distinguished history as a leader in cardiovascular discovery and training.
Medical Milestones: First Pacemaker and Other Breakthroughs
- The first implantable cardiac pacemaker was developed by Dr. Paul Zoll at Beth Israel Hospital in 1952.
- Beth Israel's Dr. Herrman Blumgart was the first investigator to use radioisotopes in studying human cardiac physiology, paving the way for modern day nuclear cardiology.
- Beth Israel cardiologist Dr. Louis Wolff was a member of the team that first described the clinical manifestations of what has become known as Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
- More recently, the Deaconess Hospital established a record of excellence in developing its two catheterization laboratories in the decade between 1965 and 1975, as well as creating one of Boston's first coronary intensive care units.
Among Top Four in NIH Funding
Today, the BIDMC is a tertiary/quaternary teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, serving more than half a million patients each year. BIDMC's biomedical research program consistently ranks in the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide.
Furthermore, the nation's first clinical research laboratory, the Harvard-Thorndike Laboratory, has been located at BIDMC since 1973.