Amavita Research vs. Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute: which clinical trial site fits your study?

Amavita Research is a clinical trial site and PET imaging trial partner in North Miami Beach, anchored by a dedicated cardiovascular research site. Every active study is cardiovascular, the senior PI is U.S. TAVR pioneer Dr. William W. O'Neill (National PI on Edwards PARTNER, Protect II, and Protect IV), and the affiliated Advanced Cardiovascular of Miami ASC supports interventional procedures on site. Processes are IAOCR GCSA-certified, valid through February 28, 2027.

Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute, part of Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, is an academic health-system heart program with surgical and transplant depth: 80 adult heart transplants performed, three-star Society of Thoracic Surgeons ratings across TAVR, CABG, and mitral procedures, a cardiology fellowship program, and participation in trials including the FREEDOM cell-therapy study for microvascular angina and the TAVR UNLOAD randomized trial. For protocols that need transplant, surgical, or fellowship-driven academic infrastructure, that depth is real.

The trade-off is governance. Academic health systems organize research inside clinical departments, with contracting, IRB, and administration moving through institutional channels. That governance protects the academic mission and can extend startup timelines relative to a dedicated site.

Amavita's model concentrates everything on trial execution at one address: an anonymized 41-day contract-to-first-patient-in metric, a single BD owner (Nereisy Alonso, COO) answering the same business day, and a Miami-Dade patient population that supports FDA Diversity Action Plan enrollment natively.

Geography also matters: Memorial anchors Broward County; Amavita anchors Miami-Dade. Sponsors running South Florida cardiovascular programs commonly use both - the academic system for surgical and transplant-adjacent cohorts, Amavita for enrollment-driven outpatient cardiovascular cohorts.