Dr. Garcia’s research focuses on why patients with diastolic heart failure have trouble doing physical exercise and the role of screening imaging tests for predicting cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. His cardiac imaging work has contributed significantly to the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease, diastolic heart failure, cardiomyopathies and valvular heart disease. The CT coronary angiography technique avoids the use of invasive arterial catheterization to image the coronary arteries, using instead a modified CT scanner to detect even the smallest atherosclerotic plaques that can cause narrowing of the coronary vessels and lead to deadly heart attacks. Dr. Garcia tested the technology in animal and controlled human studies, which led to increased accuracy and lowered the use of radiation, both of which improved clinical effectiveness. In addition, his research findings have helped to improve the safety of manned space flights and the quality of battlefield medicine.