Cardiovascular diseases
The number of people suffering from cardiovascular disease is vast. The number of knowledge workers active in this field in the Amsterdam Area is too.
Cardiovascular diseases are often the result of multiple different factors, and therefore demand a multidisciplinary research orientation. As with cancer and neurosciences, this requires strong interactions between pre-clinical and clinical researchers, to optimise translation to the clinic. It also requires links between programmes on metabolic disorders that cause vascular dysfunction (such as diabetes and lipid disorders and obesity), and programmes on thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Innovative cardiovascular imaging platforms support these programmes.
In addition, there is a strong focus on epidemiological studies to fine-tune prevention programmes, and extensive databases derived from family studies have been built up to obtain in-depth knowledge of the inheritability of cardiovascular diseases. This knowledge is directly translated into innovative therapeutics and diagnostics.
Main therapy targets:
- Thrombosis
- Atherosclerosis
- Lipid disorders
Main therapies and tools:
- Advanced Imaging Technology
- Cholesterol-lowering drug discovery
- Anticoagulants
- Gene therapy
- Patient cohorts