The Centre Chirurgical Marie Lannelongue has a triple remit: Care, Teaching and Research.

The goal of the Research is to enhance our understanding of heart and lung diseases to help us to treat them more effectively. The CCML research is not confined to the Laboratories (Experimental research) but extends to the patient’s bedside (clinical research). Problems encountered by the CCML physicians in their everyday practice can be dissected in the laboratory and, once a solution has been found, it can be transposed to the treatment of real patients in clinical trials. This chain leading from experimental to clinical research has paved the way for a number of firsts: the first open-heart operations; the first procedures to repair complex congenital heart abnormalities; the first heart-lung transplant procedures, etc.

Every year, this research is reported in dozens of scientific articles published in English-language and French journals as well as presentation at conferences here and abroad. In the field of chest and heart surgery, the CCML is the only establishment in France which has, every year since its creation, presented its results at the most important international conferences.

There are five main research topics:

They are physicians and surgeons who, above and beyond their usual clinical activities, set aside time to conduct clinical or experimental research. In most cases, these surgeons and physicians supervise younger colleagues who are dedicating themselves to full-time research for a number of years. These young physicians may also benefit from the knowledge of scientists and technicians working in the Experimental Research Laboratories.

Funding sources are many and various. Broadly speaking, experimental research is funded directly by the major national public institutions (notably the CNRS and INSERM) or by grants from national and international bodies. From its hospital budget, the CCML allocates operating funds (salaries, logistics, equipment) for all research activities.