Translational cardiology: Introduction

The field of cardiology has a rich history of discovering mechanisms of disease, and the use of that knowledge to develop novel drug and device therapy. By some estimates, there has been more original investigative research within the field of cardiology than any other subspecialty in medicine. In some ways, the field has advanced at a break-neck pace because of the diversity of scientific “talent” and a broad range of disciplines (e.g., medicine, engineering, computational biology, physics, to name a few) that are attracted to translational cardiology. Not only does this make practicing cardiology exciting, but this diversity of cardiovascular research is also critical: cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally. In 2019, nearly 18.6 million people worldwide died from CVD, representing an increase of 17% over the past decade. In addition, a staggering 523.2 million people carried a diagnosis of CVD in 2019, an increase of 26.6% from 2010 (Virani et al., 2021). With a need this great, solutions to solving this global epidemic are going to require innovative ideas from a broad range of stakeholders who are quickly able to translate both basic scientific discoveries as well as advancements in disparate fields into clinical practice.