A large-scale integrated study of multiple common cardio metabolic diseases in populations from Europe and Central Asia (EureecaGen)

Starting date
April 16, 2009
Duration (months)
48
Managers or local contacts
Malerba Giovanni
Keyword
Cardio-metabolic disorders, association study, metabolomic

Cardio-metabolic disorders (coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke) constitute a major health burden in EU and EECA countries. These are highly heritable traits and recent large-scale genome-wide association studies, conducted mostly in populations of North/West European descent, have identified almost 100 susceptibility loci for these traits. The extent to which these same variants are important for South European (SE) and EECA populations is unclear. EureecaGen brings together 24 partners (from 6 EU and 8 EECA countries) with the expertise and resources to evaluate the genetic basis of major cardiometabolic traits across multiple EU and EECA populations. EureecaGen will first establish an international biobank of over 40,000 new samples for cardiometabolic disorders from SE and EECA populations. It will conduct well-powered population genetics studies, combining results from SE and EECA with existing genetic data from 200,000 samples from other European collections. The prevalence of known and novel risk-variants in cases and controls from these different countries will be compared using high-density genotyping and next-generation sequencing tools. The genetic data generated will be linked with clinical and metabolomic data from these samples to improve understanding of disease mechanisms and identify putative biomarkers. Translational goals will be advanced by evaluating the potential of genetic and non-genetic biomarkers to stratify patient groups at high risk for disease and enable therapeutic optimization, facilitating identification of individuals who have the potential to benefit most from early treatment and lifestyle changes. EureecaGen will feature close collaboration and cooperation between EU and EECA partners, and through joint shared endeavour and by dedicated training of young scientists on modern experimental and analytical techniques for disease genetics will empower the development of scientific research in EECA countries.

Sponsors:

7PQ VALUTATI POSITIVAMENTE
Funds: requested
Syllabus: EUROPA - Progetti Europei

Project participants

Riccardo Bonadonna
Giovanni Malerba
Associate Professor
Nicola Martinelli
Associate Professor
Cristina Patuzzo
Technical-administrative staff
Elisabetta Trabetti
Associate Professor
Luciano Xumerle
Chiara Zusi
Technical-administrative staff

Collaboratori esterni

PANAGIOTIS DELOUKAS
SANGER INSTITUTE - WELLCOME TRUST, CAMBRIDGE, UK

Activities

Research facilities

Share