VO2max is a gold-standard indicator of cardiovascular and metabolic health. Low VO2max levels are strongly associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality and chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. However, direct measurement of VO2max is complex and not always feasible in routine health and clinical assessments. Circulating biomarkers may offer a scalable, non-invasive alternative for estimating VO2max, hereby enabling disease risk evaluation and allowing for timely and effective interventions. By leveraging UK Biobank’s rich phenotypic and biomarker dataset, this project aims to establish a reliable biomarker-based proxy for VO2max. As such, the primary research question of this study is the identification of the most reliable biomarker-based predictors of VO2max in the healthy population.
Given the cohort’s size and diversity, our statistical model is expected to yield robust, generalizable predictions that can inform disease prevention strategies and empower individuals to monitor their fitness and cardiovascular risk on a regular, ongoing basis, thus optimising time, cost and health care related outcomes. The integration of such data-driven proxy measure for VO2max into current health care models will ultimately complement routine health assessments in providing an individualised evaluation of disease risk.
Findings from this research will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications in relevant journals, oral/poster presentations at key international conferences and social media outreach (e.g. podcast appearances to describe the utility and real-life applicability of this innovative metric).