Establishing a cardiovascular disease phenome and determination of gene-environment interaction in cardiovascular disease

University of California

Lay summary

Heart disease is the number one cause of death and illness in many parts of the world. It is not a single disease, but rather composed of several broad categories such as heart failure, heart attack, valve disease, and others. There are many treatment options, but not all patients respond well or the same. This could be due to two reasons. First, patients may respond differently due to their DNA and the environment they are exposed to. And second, these broad disease categories may overlook subtle yet important differences that may impact treatment effectiveness. To address these important health questions, we will study how genes and environment interact to cause or modulate heart diseases. Furthermore, we will also use data from UK Biobank to construct a heart disease phenome, or an atlas that captures all nuances of the disease spectrum.