Who We Are
The CVE was founded in 2012 by Dr. Christopher Kabrhel in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. The Emergency Department is a crossroads of medicine, where we provide expert care to anyone, with anything, anytime. This experience continually teaches us the value of a diverse, multidisciplinary approach to problem solving, and how to create practical, easily implemented solutions to solve critical issues in healthcare.
How We Work
Our work cycle involves scientific observation, data collection, protocol development, and clinical research. Through scientific observation we identify knowledge gaps and areas for improvement in care. We gain detailed understanding of the issue though research and use the data we generate to inform protocols and pathways that we think will improve patient care. After implementing these protocols, we study their effectiveness. Invariably, these studies lead us to new questions and areas for improvement.
At the CVE, vascular emergencies like deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are the hub of our wheel. While all of our work flows through this hub, we approach our work from multiple perspectives, so a diverse array of tools and techniques form the spokes of our wheel. This approach allows us to focus on critical diseases about which we have detailed knowledge, while leveraging the diversity and expertise of our team.
Where We Work
The CVE is based in Boston, but we work all over the world. We collaborate with colleagues at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, Aarhus University in Denmark, Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom. We also maintain close relationships with clinician scientists in France, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, and throughout the United States.
What We Believe
Our community is our greatest strength.
The CVE is a community of people with different backgrounds and experience levels. We bring together people from multiple disciplines, cultures, and perspectives and our team includes physicians, scientists, statisticians, programmers, designers, artists, teachers and students from all over the world. We provide mentorship and resources that enable CVE team members to bring their own perspectives to a project and to think creatively about solutions.
Collaboration beats competition, every time.
Our multidisciplinary approach to problem solving means that there is always room at the CVE table. In contrast to traditional academic models which often silo information we reach across disciplines to leverage the strength of different perspectives. The problems we are trying to solve are bigger than any of us, and we are most successful when we work together.
Keep it simple.
Science is complex and CVE team members have deep expertise in their fields, but we never lose sight of our main goal – improving the care of patients with vascular emergencies by translating our scientific advances to the real world. Implementing and operationalizing an idea requires us to think practically, focus on the key elements required to make a project work, and identify barriers to success. One of our mantras is “Make the thing you want people to do the easiest thing for them to do.”
It’s gotta be fun.
Working to solve some of the most challenging problems in healthcare is hard work, and for us, a passion project. We love thinking creatively about complex issues, but we also like being together. At the CVE, we work to maintain a culture that feels like a family – with all the eccentricity, squabbles, support, and caring you would expect.
