Research Themes
A heart pump model
GOALS
The goal of our Basic and Translational Research theme is to discover new markers of disease, and elucidate mechanisms and pathways that can be targeted for novel therapies. These are built upon a suite of capabilities including genomics, stem cells, RNA biology, models of disease, CRISPR gene editing through to genome-wide screens.
Sub-Themes
As physicians, we are interested in biomarkers because we use them often to make diagnoses of diseases, and they often also help us to track disease progression. In the setting of cardiovascular disease, our TRP research teams study biomarkers in the form of proteins, nucleic acids and metabolites, using technologies and capabilities including mass spectrometry and data informatics for the discovery of new actionable biomarkers to guide clinical care. Our approach encompasses clinical trial design and execution, in addition to novel assay design. A specific interest is the use of quantified drug and drug metabolite levels, sourced from standard clinical workflows, for the guidance of prescription management.
For the study of human diseases, genetics comes closest to uncovering causality. Our TRP research teams make use of next-generation sequencing and Long Read Sequencing technologies as a routine to study genomics, genetics and the molecular epigenetic control of gene programmes. As a routine, our studies of disease mechanisms make use of animal models as well as patient-based induced pluripotent stem cell platforms, and CRISPR gene editing techniques.
Vascular research in our TRP covers coronary artery disease, lipid and bile acid biology, as well as peripheral artery disease. We make use of animal models and host a large biobank of human tissue.