
A BETTER FUTURE STARTS WITH YOU!
Join one of our clinical trials today to help prevent and treat heart, vascular, and metabolic disorders.
Are You A CandidateA BETTER FUTURE STARTS WITH YOU!
Join one of our clinical trials today to help prevent and treat heart, vascular, and metabolic disorders.
MISSION
The National Heart Institute (NHI) offers people at risk of cardiovascular disease and its complications the opportunity to participate in innovative clinical trials that can help improve their outcomes and provide high-level care. NHI also educates healthcare professionals as to how these treatments can be used effectively and efficiently.
About The National Heart Institute (NHI)
Despite recent advances, heart attack, stroke, and heart failure remain the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. They often strike a person in the prime of their life with sometimes no notice. Unfortunately, even the most effective available treatments have a limited impact on these conditions.
The National Heart Institute (NHI) is uniquely positioned to participate in important medical discoveries to help narrow the treatment gap for patients and improve their outcomes. Through its reputation as a Clinical Research Site of Excellence under the direction of Dr. Norman Lepor, NHI’s clinical trials provide patients access to opportunities to improve their lives at no cost. All of the clinical trial protocols offered at NHI are registered with the United States government and approved by institutional review boards to provide patient safety and ensure the clinical trials deal with important health issues.
As medical scientists learn more about the underlying causes of cardiovascular disease, we discover new ways to prevent and treat conditions such as coronary artery disease, lipid disorders, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease that not only affect longevity but also the quality of life.
OUR COMMITMENT TO PATIENTS
Participating in a clinical trial is a positive life-changing journey for a patient to make. It takes a committed team of professionals to conduct clinical research safely.
We start by assisting the patient in selecting the best clinical trial based on their unique health issues and priorities. We call this “shared decision-making.”
NHI clinical research coordinators work with highly trained, experienced, and certified physician investigators who are key to the successful conduct of clinical trials. The physician investigators oversee the patient selection, carefully explain research protocols, obtain informed consent, and monitor the process to ensure maximum patient safety. An additional layer of oversight is provided by outside clinical research monitors who oversee the activities at all research sites and the United States Food and Drug Administration.
A patient’s participation in clinical research does not replace the care they receive from their current healthcare professionals but supplements it. NHI’s clinical research staff will collaborate with the patient’s current healthcare team to keep them informed of their progress throughout any clinical trial.
Part of NHI’s commitment is to reach out to underserved and diverse patients so that they can benefit from clinical trial participation and to be more certain that new potential treatments are effective and safe across different populations. NHI’s clinical trials offer equal access to everyone.
Our clinical trials are not only an opportunity for patients to participate in a treatment study that potentially enhances their health but also the health of others.
OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCESS AND INCLUSION IN CLINICAL TRIALS
At NHI, advancing access to clinical trials and promoting inclusive research are central to our mission. As a leading clinical trial research organization, we are dedicated to connecting patients from all backgrounds to innovative clinical studies. We believe that diverse participation in clinical trials ensures study results are relevant, comprehensive, and representative of the broader population.
By fostering access, we help underserved and historically underrepresented communities benefit from the high-quality care and advanced treatments associated with clinical research participation at NHI.
Our commitment to access and inclusion in clinical trials is reflected in the following principles:
- Promoting inclusive access to clinical trials for individuals of all ages, races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, health statuses, sexual orientations, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Raising awareness and addressing health disparities in clinical research through education and advocacy.
- Partnering with clinical trial partners to expand outreach and engagement efforts in underserved communities.
- Driving cross-functional collaboration to embed inclusive patient recruitment strategies across all stages of our research.
Through these efforts, NHI is proud to create more opportunities for patients to participate in clinical research that reflects and serves the real world.
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EDUCATION FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND PROVIDERS
Although clinical research is essential to developing new and improved treatments for cardiovascular disorders, it is equally important to educate health care professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants about new innovations and how to apply them to their patients.
The process begins with publishing the clinical trials results in peer-reviewed medical journals, having medical experts such as Dr. Lepor and our other physician investigators discuss the findings at major medical conferences, and then providing face-to-face training to health care professionals about these new therapies.
![]() | ABOUT DR. NORMAN LEPORDr. Lepor is a graduate of the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he received his medical degree. He completed his advanced training in cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Lepor is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease and has been listed by US News & World Report as one of the nation’s top cardiologists. As one of the pioneers in cardiology, he’s been invited to lecture at major medical meetings in the United States and worldwide. |
Over the last twenty years, Dr. Lepor has collaborated with the National Institutes of Health, leading medical centers, and pharmaceutical firms that have led to research published in the prestigious medical journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, Atherosclerosis, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.
These findings have led to new and important treatments for cholesterol disorders, heart failure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease that are now FDA approved and currently being used for patient care.