The mission of IFC has remained unswerving since its foundation in 1968 and can be summarized in the formula “Innovation For better patient Care”. The Institute’s main focus is cardiovascular disease, with special emphasis on atherosclerosis and heart failure, and benefits from a multidisciplinary approach organized into four main areas of knowledge and equipped with state-of-the-art technological resources. These include molecular, cellular and experimental medicine (involving MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and confocal microscopy for genomic and proteomic studies, a biobank and major animal facility for experimental cardiology, run jointly with the University of Pisa and the Sant’Anna School, with access to different animal models ranging from transgenic mice to atherosclerotic and heart-failure pigs, as well as dedicated imaging facilities including micro-PET and micro-CT); technosciences (information communication technology-biosensors-nanotechnology); clinical cardiovascular and integrative physiology and pathophysiology (top-level clinical imaging technology, including MRI, 64-slice CT, PET, PET-CT, Real-Time 3D echo, and digital radiology); and environmental, molecular, social and clinical epidemiology. Total IFC personnel comprises 65 tenured researchers (10 research directors, 30 senior scientist/technologists, 25 researchers), 18 physicians and 11 biologists, the remaining being engineers, chemists, physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians. IFC headquarters is located on the CNR Research Campus in Pisa. Two-thirds of the institute’s personnel work there, with the rest at its regional branches in Massa, Milan, Rome, Lecce and Siena.