Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Launches Research Institute Dedicated to Advancing the Care of Pediatric Cardiovascular Diseases

April 18, 2022 – Deepening its commitment to pediatric cardiovascular research, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Research Institute has launched the CHOP Cardiovascular Institute (CHOP CVI). Led by Daniel P. Kelly, MD, current Director of the Penn Cardiovascular Institute (Penn CVI), the new institute will develop novel research programs and partner with existing programs in the Penn CVI. Harnessing the collective power of CHOP and Penn Medicine, the CHOP CVI will drive scientific discovery and medical breakthroughs that will improve pediatric cardiovascular care.

"CHOP has a longstanding history of providing superlative pediatric cardiac care, and under Dr. Kelly's leadership, the CHOP Cardiovascular Institute will raise that standard of care even higher," said Susan L. Furth, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We are so pleased to have him join us to lead this new undertaking." 

As Director of the Penn CVI, Dr. Kelly has overseen programs that uncover the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease, move translational research from bench to bedside, and train the next generation of cardiovascular scientists to engage in both fundamental and translational research. Under his leadership, the Penn CVI has grown to more than 100 members across the Penn campus, acquired numerous team-based research grants, and developed a robust pipeline for first-in-human studies for new therapeutics aimed at heart and vascular diseases.

His role at the CHOP CVI will involve similar responsibilities, including developing novel research programs, recruiting faculty, mentoring faculty and fellows in the CHOP CVI, and partnering with existing Penn CVI programs. At CHOP, he will hold the inaugural CHOP Presidential Chair and have a secondary appointment as a Professor of Pediatrics, while continuing his leadership role at the Penn CVI. He will be a member of the CHOP leadership group administering Cardiac Center pilot grants and awards. Dr. Kelly assumed his role with the CHOP CVI on April 1, 2022, and reports to Dr. Furth.

"It is a privilege to lead this new institute, which will bring together top researchers from Penn and CHOP to solve some of pediatric cardiology's greatest challenges," said Dr. Kelly, who is also the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "Channeling the expertise of these top basic and translational scientists, we will drive cardiovascular research forward to improve our understanding and treatment of pediatric cardiovascular disease."

Dr. Kelly came to Philadelphia to lead the Penn CVI in 2017, after nearly a decade as founding Scientific Director for the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in Florida, where he focused on the metabolic origins of disease. Prior to that appointment, he served as Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Chief of the Cardiovascular Division, and the founding Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Washington University School of Medicine, where he also did his postdoctoral and clinical cardiology training. He received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and did his residency training at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.