The CRI was made possible by a generous gift from Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health Systems to the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1998. The gift led to the formation of the South Dakota Health Research Foundation of which the CRI is a part. Dr. Martin Gerdes, former Chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology at The University of South Dakota, has served as Director of the CRI since its inception. Gerdes, a recognized expert in Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), has worked to recruit outstanding researchers in CHF to Sioux Falls and acquire the necessary funding to support those researchers.

CHF is the leading cause of death and hospital admissions in the US. Most cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension and ischemic heart disease, eventually lead to CHF. The syndrome is characterized by the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. With an aging population and a rising incidence of obesity-related heart disease, the incidence of CHF is expected to rise. The CRI intends to play a leading role in understanding the molecular basis of this disorder and indentifying potential new therapies. In the past few years, investigators at the CRI have obtained over $20 million in competitive research grants to fund the work. The CRI currently has over 40 full-time employees, including faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and research associates. Undergraduate students, medical students, and medical residents are also involved in research on a part-time basis.

At this time, the CRI has 7 full-time faculty level investigators, including Dr. Gerdes. This includes four outstanding young cardiovascular researchers. Drs. XJ Wang (University of Cincinnati) and Faqian Li (Indiana University) have won international young investigator awards for their research. They are also two of the most promising and productive former graduates from The University of South Dakota, having trained previously with Dr. Gerdes. Additionally, research from Drs. Wang, Li, and Gerdes has repeatedly been featured on the cover of the world’s most prestigious cardiovascular research journals in recent years. The CRI also recruited Drs. Tim O’Connell (University of San Francisco) and Rong Liang (University of Cincinnati) last year, both considered among the best recent young cardiovascular research trainees in the US. Dr. Ben Perryman, Professor and South Dakota Health Research Foundation, Executive Director, was the director of molecular cardiovascular research at two top 20 medical schools during the past 20 years (Baylor, Colorado) and is a recognized expert in proteomics and molecular biology of CHF. Finally, Dr. Steven Armstrong recently joined the CRI as Associate Professor (East Tennessee State). This team of researchers now represents the world’s single largest group of principal investigators focused on CHF.

Clearly, the CRI is now poised to become a leading center of research in this important field. The CRI should also play a major role in developing more biotechnology infrastructure in Sioux Falls. Since biotechnology will likely be the major growth industry in this century, expansion in this area is of critical economic importance to the region.