In 2012, Kirklin and his colleagues developed the first Children's Hospital pediatric cardiac surgical unit in the state of Alabama.
Kirklin and his colleagues at UAB pioneered the development of multi-institutional collaborative outcomes research in pediatric and adult heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support.
[16] In 2011, he was the first surgeon in North America to implant the HVAD continuous flow ventricular assist device in a child.
[17] In 2014, Kirklin was the first surgeon in North America to implant the Eva Heart continuous flow ventricular assist device.
Kirklin's research group developed an international database platform for mechanical circulatory support (IMACS) within the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) in 2012, and created and direct a global database for the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (WSPCHS) since 2017.
[24] Kirklin was Principal Investigator of the $15 million NIH-funded national Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) from 2006 to 2017.