The Facility

The Cardiovascular Innovation Institute will be a four-story expansion of the existing lab at the University of Louisville Health Science Center. The institute will be one block from the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute, where the clinical team under the direction of Dr. Laman Gray performs surgery on heart assist device patients.

The institute will consist of research labs, fabrication facilities, operating rooms, recovery rooms, diagnostic equipment, training facilities, mock circulation labs, administrative offices, conference rooms, storage areas, sterile supply rooms, necropsy rooms and medical imaging areas.

The institute will be designed to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration. It will also provide space for corporate partners who want to have their researchers work on site with institute researchers.

The cost of constructing the institute is estimated at $23 million. The funding for this construction is already committed: $15 million from Jewish Hospital, $5 million from the Kentucky Office for the New Economy, and a $3 million federal grant secured by Sen. Mitch McConnell.

“ We were able to arrange for federal funding for the institute by showing the huge potential contribution for improving care for patients with advanced heart disease,” McConnell said. “This is a win-win for patients and for economic development in Kentucky. It represents the best kind of private-public collaboration.”

In addition to the funding for the new facility, the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital will embark on a campaign to raise additional funding to underwrite the recruitment of world-class researchers, pay for the start-up costs and establish an endowment. This fundraising is described in greater detail in the business plan.