Our Research
HHRI operates as the research arm of the HCMC, the flagship acute care and teaching hospital of the Hennepin Healthcare System. Our researchers are practicing physicians and medical professionals. They use their impressive medical backgrounds to advance medical knowledge and improve the care their patients receive.
We are currently conducting research in four main focus areas of medicine and healthcare, which are as follows:
Acute Care / Trauma
HHRI Investigators are seeking solutions to the complex challenges faced in providing emergency treatment and critical care. We are actively pursuing innovative therapies to improve patient care and outcomes for life-threatening and time-sensitive conditions that are the result of disease or trauma and during recovery from surgery. HHRI's currently conducting acute care and trauma research in the following areas:
Cardiac Biomarkers
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Clinical Trials, Infectious Diseases/Sepsis
Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine, Pulmonary, & Critical Care
Frostbite & Burn
Orthopaedics
Restorative Neurotrauma Lab (RNL)
Trauma & Surgical Critical Care
Trauma & Critical Care
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
TBI, Cortical Spreading Depolarization (CSD), & Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
Addiction
Drug addiction is the number one preventable cause of death in the adult population in the US. Tobacco, alcohol, illicit drug and prescription abuse often lead to a downward spiral in heath and self-care and can be a primary cause of disease as seen in alcohol induced liver cirrhosis or the spread of HIV through contaminated intravenous needles. The indirect costs of drug addiction to society are estimated to be around $500 billion annually. HHRI investigators are exploring the underlying causes of addiction and translating their scientific findings into improved therapies to prevent and treat addiction in the areas of Addiction Medicine, Opioid Addiction, and Tobacco Treatment.
Addiction Medicine
Reducing the Impact of Tobacco-related Diseases
Tobacco Cessation / Behavioral Health
Tobacco Treatment Research
Health Services
Researchers at HHRI are improving patient care for individuals and the community as a whole. Our investigators are studying ways to more effectively deliver high-quality health care, manage costs and improve patient outcomes in the following fields of medicine:
Berman Center for Clinical Outcomes and Research
Brain Health and Cerebrovascular Care
Children’s Issues
Chronic Disease Organ Transplantation
Chronic Disease Research Group (CDRG)
Dementia Epidemiology & Aging Studies
Health, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice (HHCJ)
Nephrology & Transplantation
Nephrology, Transplantation, & Health Disparities
Nephrology, Transplantation, & Pharmacogenomics
Neurology, ALS, & Neuropalliative Care
Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR)
Infectious Diseases
The Center for Infectious Disease Research (CeIDeR) at HHRI conducts science that aspires to improve health outcomes for persons with infections through generating new knowledge on disease pathogenesis, intervention strategies, and approaches to clinical implementation. Research is currently focused on diseases such as HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, vector-borne infections such as malaria, and respiratory infections. Studies are conducted locally in Minnesota as well as globally through collaborations in Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Australia.