A Global Benchmark for Scientific Leadership

The Scientific Excellence Top Ten (SET-10) celebrates the world’s leading academic medical institutions whose groundbreaking research is shaping the future of interventional cardiovascular medicine. Now in its fourth year, SET-10 represents more than a ranking — it is the benchmark for academic excellence in cardiovascular innovation. The list highlights institutions whose work drives real progress in patient care based on the quality and volume of their contributions to TCT 2026. 

How Institutions Are Ranked

Rankings are determined by the total number and scoring of scientific abstracts and late-breaking research accepted to TCT from each institution. Every accepted submission counts toward an institution's standing. Institutions are defined by first and last authors. 


Six Categories of Excellence


Background and Overview

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation® (CRF®) proudly announces the 2026 SET-10 (Scientific Excellence Top 10), honoring the institutions making the most significant contributions to interventional cardiovascular research at this year’s Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics® (TCT®) conference. 

For the fourth consecutive year, this global ranking sets a benchmark for academic and medical institutions striving to revolutionize heart care.

TCT®: Pioneering the Future of Cardiovascular Medicine

Since its inception in 1988, TCT has evolved into the leading global event in interventional cardiovascular medicine, attracting more than 10,000 participants annually. Each year, TCT gathers top researchers and clinicians to present groundbreaking studies that shape clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. In line with this mission, this year’s SET-10 celebrates the institutions making the most significant academic contributions at TCT 2026.

Celebrating Excellence: The 2026 SET-10 Rankings

The 2026 CRF TCT® SET-10 rankings honor the dedication of researchers and clinicians whose work was selected for presentation at TCT 2026. These rankings are based on scientific submissions, ranging from basic science to clinical studies, all vying for the opportunity to be presented on the TCT global stage. A total of 31 institutions earned a spot in this year’s rankings, spanning categories that showcase their influence within the United States, internationally, and across specific research areas.

 

GLOBAL RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

2

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

3

National University of Ireland Galway

Galway

Ireland

4

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

5

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Seoul

South Korea

6

NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York

USA

7

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

8

Tufts Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

9

Montefiore Einstein

Bronx, New York

USA

10

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

 

UNITED STATES RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

2

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

3

NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York

USA

4

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

5

Tufts Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

6

Montefiore Einstein

Bronx, New York

USA

7

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

8

Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

9

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

Washington, District of Columbia

USA

10

Detroit Medical Center / Wayne State University

Detroit, Michigan

USA

 

NON-U.S. RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

2

National University of Ireland Galway

Galway

Ireland

3

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Seoul

South Korea

4

Charité – University Medicine Berlin

Berlin

Germany

5

Amsterdam University Medical Center

Amsterdam

Netherlands

6

Seoul National University Hospital

Seoul

South Korea

7

Heart Center Leipzig, University Hospital

Leipzig

Germany

8

Samsung Medical Center

Seoul

South Korea

9

Barts Health NHS Trust

London

United Kingdom

10

Korea University Guro Hospital

Seoul

South Korea

 

CORONARY RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

2

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Seoul

South Korea

3

National University of Ireland Galway

Galway

Ireland

4

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

5

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

6

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

7

Tufts Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

8

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

Washington, District of Columbia

USA

9

Seoul National University Hospital

Seoul

South Korea

10

NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York

USA

 

STRUCTURAL RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Montefiore Einstein

Bronx, New York

USA

2

Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

3

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

4

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

5

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center / Smidt Heart Institute

Los Angeles, California

USA

6

UC San Diego Health

San Diego, California

USA

7

Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center

Houston, Texas

USA

8

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

9

St. Paul's Hospital

Vancouver, British Columbia

Canada

10

Quebec Heart and Lung Institute – Laval University

Quebec City, Quebec

Canada

 

LATE-BREAKING CLINICAL RESEARCH RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2026

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York

USA

2

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

3

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center

Roslyn, New York

USA

4

Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences

Hamilton, Ontario

Canada

5

Heart Institute of the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo (InCor)

São Paolo

Brazil

6

Morristown Medical Center

Morristown, New Jersey

USA

7

Quebec Heart and Lung Institute – Laval University

Quebec City, Quebec

Canada

8

University of Virginia Medical Center

Charlottesville, Virginia

USA

9

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

10

Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Chicago, Illinois

USA

Explore Rankings From Previous Years

GLOBAL RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

2

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

3

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

USA

4

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

5

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

6

Humanitas Research Hospital

Milan

Italy

7

Cardiovascular Center Aalst, OLV Hospital, AZORG Hospital

Aalst

Belgium

8

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

9

Endeavor Health (NorthShore University Health System)

Evanston, Illinois

USA

10

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital — Dallas

Dallas, Texas

USA

UNITED STATES RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

2

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

USA

3

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

4

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

5

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

6

Endeavor Health (NorthShore University Health System)

Evanston, Illinois

USA

7

Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital — Dallas

Dallas, Texas

USA

8

Mount Auburn / Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School

Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts

USA

9

Detroit Medical Center / Wayne State University

Detroit, Michigan

USA

10

Tampa Heart

Tampa, Florida

USA

NON-U.S. RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

2

Humanitas Research Hospital

Milan

Italy

3

Cardiovascular Center Aalst, OLV Hospital, AZORG Hospital

Aalst

Belgium

4

Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University

Xi’an

China

5

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College Of Medicine

Seoul

South Korea

6

National University of Ireland Galway

Galway

Ireland

7

Alexandria Main University Hospital

Alexandria

Egypt

8

Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University

Shanghai

China

9

Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University

Nanjing

China

10

University of Milan, Centro Cardiologico Monzino

Milan

Italy

CORONARY RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

2

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

3

Minneapolis Heart Institute, Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

4

Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University

Xi’an

China

5

UTHealth Houston (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston)

Houston, Texas

USA

6

Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University

Nanjing

China

7

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

8

Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Seoul

South Korea

9

Endeavor Health (NorthShore University Health System)

Evanston, Illinois

USA

10

Mount Auburn / Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School

Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts

USA

STRUCTURAL RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

2

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio

USA

3

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

USA

4

University of Toledo

Toledo, Ohio

USA

5

Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia

USA

6

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts

USA

7

Oregon Health & Science University

Portland, Oregon

USA

8

Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center

Houston, Texas

USA

9

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

10

Detroit Medical Center / Wayne State University

Detroit, Michigan

USA

LATE-BREAKING CLINICAL RESEARCH RANKING: CRF® SET-10 for TCT® 2025

Rank

Institution

City

Country

1

NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York, New York

USA

2

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center / Smidt Heart Institute

Los Angeles, California

USA

3

Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute

Minneapolis, Minnesota

USA

4

Radboud University Medical Center

Nijmegen

Netherlands

5

Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota

USA

6

Aarhus University Hospital, Skejby

Aarhus

Denmark

7

Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Beijing

China

8

Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University

Xi’an

China

9

New York University School of Medicine

New York, New York

USA

10

European Hospital Georges Pompidou

Paris

France