What Cardiovascular Research Foundation does

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization founded in 1989 and headquartered in New York City. It conducts clinical research and registry data management focused on cardiovascular interventions, with its work spanning multi-site observational studies and real-world evidence generation for interventional cardiology procedures. Its flagship operational asset is the annual TCT (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics) scientific conference, which convenes the global interventional cardiology community and serves as a platform for showcasing transcatheter valve therapy advancements and medical device innovations.

CRF's core technology and platform consists of large-scale clinical registries with randomized patient sampling protocols that produce evidence-based data to guide clinical practice. The foundation's most prominent current initiative is the Target: Aortic Stenosis registry, conducted in collaboration with the American Heart Association, which enrolled 8,097 randomly sampled patients across 58 U.S. sites and demonstrated that timely aortic stenosis diagnosis improved from 54.2% in 2023 to 61.4% in 2024 in participating institutions. Findings are disseminated through simultaneous peer-reviewed publication (e.g., Circulation) and conference presentations.

CRF's business model is nonprofit-based: it does not operate commercial product pricing. Revenue is generated through grants, TCT conference registrations and sponsorships, and institutional partnerships with medical societies and industry stakeholders. Its customer base comprises cardiovascular healthcare providers, hospitals, cardiology practices, and cardiovascular research centers that participate in its registries and attend TCT. Leadership is provided by CEO Marvin L. Woodall. The organization operates with 51–100 employees and maintains its principal geographic footprint in North America, with international reach through the TCT conference.

Name

Cardiovascular Research Foundation

Website

https://crf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation is an independent nonprofit founded in 1989 that conducts clinical research and registry studies on cardiovascular interventions and hosts the annual TCT scientific conference for the interventional cardiology community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cardiovascular Clinical Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Therapeutic-Area CROs (e.g., oncology/rare disease) (HLAGAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Clinical Data Management, Biostatistics & Statistical Programming CROs (HLAGAAAF)

Keywords

• Cardiovascular clinical research
• Interventional cardiology trials
• Clinical registry studies
• Cardiac imaging research
• Medical device studies

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, nonprofit organization that conducts large-scale cardiovascular clinical research, including multi-site patient registries such as the Target: Aortic Stenosis registry. It generates real-world evidence to improve diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease and hosts the annual TCT (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics) scientific conference, the leading forum for interventional cardiology innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Target: Aortic Stenosis Registry Multi-site clinical registry enrolling randomly sampled patients with aortic stenosis at U.S. hospitals to study diagnosis patterns, treatment delivery, and outcomes for aortic valve replacement. Designed for cardiovascular healthcare providers and institutions participating in evidence-based care.
• TCT (Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics) Annual Scientific Conference Annual scientific conference showcasing late-breaking clinical trials, device innovations, and education in interventional cardiology and transcatheter valve therapies. Targeted at interventional cardiologists, researchers, and medical device professionals.
• Peer-Reviewed Clinical Research Publications Publication of clinical research findings in peer-reviewed journals such as Circulation, released alongside major conference presentations to disseminate real-world evidence on cardiovascular interventions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Timely aortic stenosis diagnosis improved from 54.2% (2023) to 61.4% (2024) in participating registry sites

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• American Heart AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaborative partnership conducting the Target: Aortic Stenosis registry study, collecting data from 58 U.S. sites and 8,097 patients to study diagnosis and treatment patterns for aortic valve disease.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Baim Institute for Clinical Research: An independent nonprofit clinical research organization focused on cardiovascular and interventional cardiology studies. Closest comparable to CRF in mission, nonprofit structure, and cardiovascular CRO focus.
• Duke Clinical Research Institute: One of the largest academic clinical research organizations in cardiovascular medicine, running multicenter registries and trials. Directly comparable to CRF as a cardiovascular research and registry operator.
• TIMI Study Group: An academic cardiovascular research organization conducting large-scale outcomes trials and registries. Comparable to CRF in its focus on cardiovascular clinical evidence generation.
• Population Health Research Institute: Academic clinical research institute running large cardiovascular trials globally. Comparable to CRF in operating multicenter cardiovascular studies and registry-scale data initiatives.
• Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Center for Clinical Research: Cardiovascular-focused clinical research arm of a major academic medical center, running multicenter trials and registries. Comparable to CRF in cardiovascular CRO capabilities and academic orientation.
• American College of Cardiology: Professional society running cardiovascular registries (e.g., NCDR) and educational programs. Directly comparable to CRF as a cardiovascular nonprofit producing evidence and education at scale.
• Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions: Interventional cardiology professional society with overlapping membership, registry activity, and educational programming. Comparable to CRF in mission and interventional cardiology focus.

Broad incumbents

• IQVIA: Global commercial CRO with substantial cardiovascular therapeutic-area capability and technology-enabled trial operations. Competes with CRF for industry-sponsored cardiovascular studies.
• ICON plc: Major global CRO with cardiovascular franchise and broad sponsor relationships. Comparable to CRF as an alternative for industry-sponsored cardiovascular research.

Others

• Medidata Solutions (Dassault Systèmes): Clinical trial technology platform providing data management and analytics for cardiovascular and other trials. Enabling/adjacent to CRF's registry data management work rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/crfheart
• Facebookfacebook.com/cardiovascular.research
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardiovascular-research-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Cardiovascular Research Foundation