AHA funds personalized medicine initiative

The American Heart Association has set aside a 5-year, $30-million research fund to dig deeper into two large national studies in hopes of finding more clues to personalized treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The organization and its two main collaborators, the University of Mississippi and Boston University, announced the new initiative during the AHA's annual scientific sessions.

"The collaboration has a vision of greatly expanding important population studies by adding more research subjects, more diverse subjects, more genetic analysis, and deeper new approaches to gathering information" leading toward personalized medicine, the AHA said in a news release.

The collaborative group, which has a temporary name of "Heart Studies v2.0," plans to analyze further the Framingham Heart Study, which is the longest-running U.S. heart study, and the Jackson Heart Study, which is the largest study to focus on risk factors among African Americans.

"The potential here is nothing short of amazing," Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chair of the collaboration's Science Oversight Group, said in a statement. "The vast participant database from these important studies, plus additional genetic components, puts us on the path to finding specific risk determinants for certain cardiovascular diseases for every person."

In a video interview, Dr. Dan Jones, University of Mississippi chancellor and former Jackson Heart Study principle investigator, further explained the collaboration and its potential impact on practice.

The American Heart Association has set aside a 5-year, $30-million research fund to dig deeper into two large national studies in hopes of finding more clues to personalized treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The organization and its two main collaborators, the University of Mississippi and Boston University, announced the new initiative during the AHA's annual scientific sessions.

"The collaboration has a vision of greatly expanding important population studies by adding more research subjects, more diverse subjects, more genetic analysis, and deeper new approaches to gathering information" leading toward personalized medicine, the AHA said in a news release.

The collaborative group, which has a temporary name of "Heart Studies v2.0," plans to analyze further the Framingham Heart Study, which is the longest-running U.S. heart study, and the Jackson Heart Study, which is the largest study to focus on risk factors among African Americans.

"The potential here is nothing short of amazing," Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chair of the collaboration's Science Oversight Group, said in a statement. "The vast participant database from these important studies, plus additional genetic components, puts us on the path to finding specific risk determinants for certain cardiovascular diseases for every person."

In a video interview, Dr. Dan Jones, University of Mississippi chancellor and former Jackson Heart Study principle investigator, further explained the collaboration and its potential impact on practice.

The American Heart Association has set aside a 5-year, $30-million research fund to dig deeper into two large national studies in hopes of finding more clues to personalized treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

The organization and its two main collaborators, the University of Mississippi and Boston University, announced the new initiative during the AHA's annual scientific sessions.

"The collaboration has a vision of greatly expanding important population studies by adding more research subjects, more diverse subjects, more genetic analysis, and deeper new approaches to gathering information" leading toward personalized medicine, the AHA said in a news release.

The collaborative group, which has a temporary name of "Heart Studies v2.0," plans to analyze further the Framingham Heart Study, which is the longest-running U.S. heart study, and the Jackson Heart Study, which is the largest study to focus on risk factors among African Americans.

"The potential here is nothing short of amazing," Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chair of the collaboration's Science Oversight Group, said in a statement. "The vast participant database from these important studies, plus additional genetic components, puts us on the path to finding specific risk determinants for certain cardiovascular diseases for every person."

In a video interview, Dr. Dan Jones, University of Mississippi chancellor and former Jackson Heart Study principle investigator, further explained the collaboration and its potential impact on practice.