The American Heart Association is launching its first-ever heart transplant research network, an initiative designed to fundamentally change how heart transplant care is delivered across the United States. The network, announced June 3, 2026, includes 14 medical research centers and a coordinating center, bringing together scientists to create a national, unified data, research, and quality care infrastructure. This effort addresses long-standing gaps in innovation, equity, and patient outcomes that have persisted nearly 60 years after the first successful heart transplant.
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. Dr. Mariell Jessup, the Association’s chief science and medical officer, noted that transplant recipients still face serious challenges, including difficulty detecting rejection early, reliance on immunosuppressive therapies with little advancement over the past 20 years, and inconsistent outcomes, especially among Black patients and children.
The initiative is structured around three pillars. First, a Global Heart Transplant Data Infrastructure will create a dynamic, harmonized platform for real-time insights to support research and quality improvement. Second, a Research Network for Breakthrough Science will focus on earlier detection of rejection, remote monitoring, viral surveillance, and safer therapies. Third, a Coordinated Path Forward will establish a scalable quality improvement framework modeled after the Association’s Get With The Guidelines® success to standardize care and improve long-term outcomes.
The coordinating center will be led by Dr. Emilia Bagiella at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with other centers including Baylor College of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Columbia University, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, 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. Four-year research grants begin July 1, 2026.
This initiative represents a critical step toward modernizing heart transplant care, ensuring innovation catches up with the rest of cardiovascular medicine. The American Heart 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.
