Ischemia Research and Education Foundation

The Ischemia Research and Education Foundation (IREF) was a prominent non-profit academic research organization dedicated to improving outcomes for surgical patients with cardiovascular disease. Founded in 1987 by Dr. Dennis Mangano, the foundation coordinated the Multicenter Study of Perioperative Ischemia (McSPI) Research Group, a global network of over 100 academic medical centers. IREF specialized in large-scale, independent clinical trials and observational studies focused on perioperative myocardial ischemia, stroke, and renal dysfunction. The organization gained significant international notoriety for its independent safety analysis of the drug Trasylol (aprotinin), which directly influenced global regulatory decisions and the drug's eventual market suspension. Although it was a leading force in cardiovascular anesthesia research for two decades, the foundation has since ceased active large-scale operations.