The American Heart Association has launched a bold new initiative to transform heart transplant care across the United States, addressing long-standing gaps in innovation, equity, and patient outcomes. The initiative establishes the Association's first-ever heart transplant research network, which includes 14 medical research centers and a coordinating center, bringing together scientists from around the country to create a national unified data, research, and quality care infrastructure.
According to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, about 4,500 heart transplantations were performed in the U.S. in 2025, the most in any year, yet more than 3,700 people remained on the waiting list. "Despite decades of breakthrough advances in cardiovascular medicine, the system supporting heart transplantation has remained largely unchanged," said Mariell Jessup, M.D., FAHA, the chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association. "This is one of the most high-stakes areas in medicine, yet innovation has lagged far behind."
The initiative focuses on three key pillars: a global heart transplant data infrastructure, a research network for breakthrough science, and a coordinated path forward modeled after the Association’s Get With The Guidelines® success. The data infrastructure will develop and manage a comprehensive heart transplant database enabling real-time insights. The research network will advance care in critical areas such as earlier detection of transplant rejection, remote monitoring technologies, viral surveillance, and development of safer therapies.
The four-year research grants begin July 1, 2026, with the coordinating center led by Emilia Bagiella, Ph.D., at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Other centers include Baylor College of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Columbia University, Duke University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Medical University of South Carolina, Stanford University, University of California San Diego, University of Colorado Denver, University of Pennsylvania, University of Utah, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
"By bringing together this exceptional data, research and clinical expertise, the Heart Association can help accelerate discoveries and translate them into better care for every patient," Jessup said. The Association has funded more than $6.1 billion in cardiovascular research since 1949, making it the largest non-profit supporter of heart and brain health research in the U.S.
