Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung e. V.

Cardiovascular medicine has achieved great success in recent decades. For example, the mortality rate from heart attacks has fallen by almost half over the past ten years. The reasons for this: better medication for high cholesterol and fewer smokers. And yet - cardiovascular diseases are still at the top of the disease statistics: according to the Federal Statistical Office, coronary heart disease, heart attacks and heart failure were the three most common causes of death in Germany in 2011. In order to achieve further progress, patient-oriented, interdisciplinary research with large studies, cohorts and biobanks is becoming increasingly important. At the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), scientists find the space for such research projects. The DZHK offers them a framework for implementing research ideas together, better and faster than before. The most important goal of the DZHK is to make new research results available to all patients in Germany as quickly as possible and to advance therapies as well as the diagnosis and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. To achieve this, German cardiovascular research was reorganized with the founding of the DZHK in 2011. 28 institutions at seven locations throughout Germany are joining forces and developing a joint research strategy.