Identification of Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk

The overall theme of our work is to identify early signs which indicate that people may be at higher risk of developing heart disease. The work focuses on identifying clinically viable biomarkers of cardiovascular (CV) risk and determining their diagnostic power. Such biomarkers include microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of short RNA molecules which regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally.
Specifically, we are studying pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening disease that can occur in pregnancy when the woman’s blood pressure rises too much and leads to problems for mother and baby. We want to find out whether small molecules called microRNAs, which are found in the blood, can help us identify women who are at risk of developing pre-eclampsia. Potential differences in miRNA expression in pre-eclamptic pregnancies, compared to normotensive pregnancies, could lead to early identification of risk for pre-eclampsia, which in turn may lead to improved outcomes. This could then lead to better and earlier treatment of pre-eclampsia and also help to better understand other cardiovascular diseases.