Dr. Mahaffey is also a faculty member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and co-Director of Cardiovascular Research. His primary research focus is the design and conduct of multicenter clinical trails and analyses of important clinical cardiac issues using large patient databases. His research focuses on novel anticoagulation agents for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes and atrial fibrillation, the study of agents targeted to protect the myocardium during reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction, and the evaluation of cardiovascular safety of diabetic therapies. Dr. Mahaffey is also interested in the methodology of clinical trials. Current research activities include standardization of the definition of myocardial infarction used in clinical trials, the adjudication of suspected clinical endpoint events, and the conduct of large multinational clinical trials. The DCRI CEC and CV Mega-Trial groups are internationally recognized leaders and have developed efficient strategies to adjudicate clinical endpoints and conduct and manage operational features of global cardiovascular clinical trials.