Our Research Institute was founded in 1977 in parallel with the NCVC Hospital. The aim of this Institute is to perform the highest-level basic and applied researches on cardiovascular diseases in collaboration with not only the NCVC Hospital, but also all other National Hospitals and medical facilities. Despite our achievements and efforts over more than two decades, the mortality due to cardiovascular diseases in Japan still remains high at 30%, comparable to that of cancer. Continued research efforts must be made to conquer all kinds of cardiovascular diseases.