Cardiovascular Disease
NUS Cardiovascular Disease TRP
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is widely recognised as the top disease burden locally and internationally, accounting for approximately 30% of local deaths in 2015. Research data has revealed that Singaporeans suffer from the onset of CVD approximately 10 years younger as compared to westerners. Furthermore, the 5-year death rate from heart failure is approximately 50%, which is significantly higher than some well-known cancers. However, despite the threat and adverse impact of CVD, global funding for CVD research lags severely behind Cancer research. Comparatively, in 2018, there was only one drug approved by FDA for CVD versus 16 drugs for Cancer. Therefore, there is a vital need for new medicines and treatment approaches for CVD.
The following three aims broadly encompass the objectives of the CVD programme:
- Underpinning discovery of biomarkers and regulators of disease
- Functional validation for mechanistic insights through (a) cardiac (myocardial) and vascular biology, and (b) pre-clinical animal (and human in vitro) models of disease
- Clinical observational and interventional trials leveraging cardiac cohorts
