CPHG Researchers, Led by Clint Miller’s Lab, Discover Gene That Shapes Risk for Heart Attacks, Vascular Diseases

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have identified a gene that plays a crucial role in determining our risk for heart attacks, deadly aneurysms, coronary artery disease and other dangerous vascular conditions.

The discovery advances our understanding of the underlying causes of a wide range of serious health conditions, including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), and moves us closer to new treatments and preventive measures that could help people live longer, healthier lives.

“The first step towards translating the knowledge of population risk for vascular disease is disentangling the fundamental cellular processes that could be affected. Ideally this can be done systematically in disease-relevant models,” said principal investigator Clint L. Miller, PhD, of UVA’s Center for Public Health Genomics and Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Public Health Sciences. “By gaining insight into the gene regulatory networks that underlie specific vascular disease pathways, we can develop more tailored interventions or risk metrics for patients.”

Read full press release in UVA Health Newsroom. 

Tags: Clint Miller, CPHG