A recent study, led by Dr Mike Inouye and Dr Gad Abraham, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, that used data from 500,000 participants, describes the development and evaluation of a novel genomic score that substantially advances the concept of using genomic information to stratify individuals with different trajectories of coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. The work, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, highlights the potential for genomic screening in early life to complement conventional risk prediction.
 
Dr Michael Inouye, of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute and University of Cambridge, said “While roughly half of coronary heart disease is down to genetics or is inherited, the other half is lifestyle or environmental. The availability of cost-efficient genetic testing for future heart attacks is imminent and has the potential to transform primary prevention of disease as we know it.”
 
This work also highlights the activities of the new Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, of which Dr Inouye is the Director, a major new international collaboration at the Clinical School.
 
More coverage of the article can be found at:  BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald