Vascular Disease Program

The Vascular Disease Program in the Cardiovascular Research Center is designed to understand, treat and potentially cure carotid artery disease, peripheral artery disease, venous thromboembolism, arterial aneurysm and arterial dissection.

Genetic epidemiology

An initiative in genetic epidemiology within the Vascular Disease Program identifies genetic susceptibility loci for venous thromboembolism. Studies are also investigating the utility of pre-emptive pharmacogenetic testing to optimize dosage of warfarin and reduce adverse outcomes, such as bleeding or thrombosis.

Cardiovascular biomarkers

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Proteomics Program includes an initiative in cardiovascular biomarkers within the Vascular Disease Program.

Multiple candidate protein markers in various etiologic pathways of atherosclerosis were measured in 2,561 people of European or African-American ancestry. The associations of these biomarkers with quantitative measures of vascular disease and target organ damage are being studied. These studies suggest that a multimarker approach significantly improves the ability to predict variation in measures of target organ damage.

Noninvasive measures of arterial function

A major initiative in the Vascular Disease Program in the Cardiovascular Research Center is noninvasive measures of arterial function. Researchers are working toward better understanding how inflammatory and hemodynamic stress markers are related to arterial stiffness. Ongoing research addresses how changes in arterial function affect ventricular function and measures of subclinical target organ damage.