Our group exploits advances in complex trait genetics and functional genomics to discover novel susceptibility genes for coronary artery disease (CAD). We have set up a consortium called PROCARDIS, which is involved in performing genome-wide association analysis, next generation sequencing and measurement of novel intermediate phenotypes to yield biomarkers for CAD risk and quantitative traits for genetic analysis.
CAD is the main cause of death and disability worldwide and represents a typical common complex disease with both genetic and environmental factors. In PROCARDIS, we collaborate with international scientists to discover regions of genome associated with CAD (eg: CARDIoGRAMplusC4D consortium, Exome Consortia); understand the genetics of intermediate phenotypes (eg: blood pressure, lipids, Lp(a), diabetes, etc) and interactions with environment (eg: gender, BMI, smoking, physical activity, etc). We have incorporated UK Biobank in our discovery effort to understand the genetics of disease progression in the context of a prospective cohort. We have an active high throughput screen program prioritizing downstream functional work to investigate the contribution of CAD associated genes to disease pathophysiology.