In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the American Heart Association, Circulation commissioned “thought leaders and luminaries” in cardiovascular medicine to provide a series of articles throughout 2024. Included in this Centennial Collection is a perspective from CVC Founding Director, Dr. Paul Armstrong, entitled Global Collaborative Cardiovascular Research: The Collective Wisdom of Countries. His article highlights how large international randomized clinical trials (RCTs), facilitated by advances in information technology, have transformed cardiovascular research over the past 100 years. These developments have remarkably enhanced the outcomes of many patients with cardiovascular disease.
From the introduction of the fax machine in the 1980s, to the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the current decade, Armstrong outlines how the evolution of information sharing pathways has democratized communication and paved the way for big data in clinical research. Hand-in-hand with these milestones in information technology, large RCTs undertaken through international collaboration have enhanced patient care and fostered a research culture that promotes academic pursuit and enquiry. The rise and successful completion of large RCTs has also forged a path for clinical research coordinating centers, and in particular, he highlights the important role of academic research organizations (AROs). AROs are typically not-for-profit centers, embedded within universities, and are dedicated to improving health outcomes through the investigation of seminal clinical questions, often requiring large-scale international investigation. A key ancillary goal is the recruitment, training and mentorship of the next generation of clinician scientists.
Looking to the future of global cardiovascular research, Armstrong states “We can enrich future clinical research by renewing our social contract with our patients, bringing a holistic approach and enshrining humanism in medicine. Embracing the social sciences and integrating them into the environmental threat to health posed by climate change will require vigorous global collaboration illuminated by forthcoming advances in synthetic biology and artificial generative intelligence. Perhaps now more than ever, the remarkable progress we have made since 1924 can propel us into an era of unprecedented sharing of opportunities and responsibilities.”
