Approved Research

Understanding the genetic basis of cardiovascular diseases and integrating with clinical information to improve genotyped-specific therapy

Lay summary

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is the leading cause of death. CVDs are influenced by multiple risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, and obesity, none of which are independent of each other, as well as the geographical environment and genetic ancestry, which considerably vary among countries and regions. With an increasing number of people suffering from CVDs, it becomes urgent to study the genetic basis of CVDs exposure to these risk factors. Systematic study of the similarities and heterogeneity of the genetic risk of cardiovascular diseases in Europeans and Asians based on the dramatic differences will provide accurate information for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

We plan to integrate and compare European and East Asian cardiovascular data in order to 1) better understand the current genetic epidemiological features of the major types of CVDs and 2) estimate the implications of these features for the prevention and treatment of CVDs.

This project will last approximately 36 months.

This project has considerable potential to identify additional potential genetic risk factors for CVDs that affected by the different geographical environment, population structure and many other multiple risk factors. Additionally, it is important to build a comprehensive assessment system for genetic risk of CVDs based on genotype, environment, phenotype and clinic information, to establish a long-term prognostic prediction model and to avoid overtreatment and reduce social financial burden on healthcare.