Grant: CIHR New Investigator

This research plan highlights an integrative approach to identify new genes involved in the etiology of coronary heart diseases, and to put them in a biologically meaningful context. We will use large-scale genetic association studies to find DNA regions associated with coronary heart disease genetic risk factors, and sequence these regions in myocardial infarction patients to find the DNA changes that influence disease risk. Finally, we will investigate the expression of these new genes in human tissues relevant to coronary heart diseases, and test their function(s) in cellular models. Our results will yield genes important to understand coronary heart disease pathophysiology, and to guide efforts at therapy and prevention.