B3447 - Polygenic predictions of blood pressure traits - 17/01/2020

B number: 
B3447
Principal applicant name: 
Karsten Øvretveit | Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Co-applicants: 
Dr. Kaitlin Wade, PhD
Title of project: 
Polygenic predictions of blood pressure traits
Proposal summary: 

Essential hypertension (HTN) is a leading, preventable risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided major insight into the genetic architecture of blood pressure (BP) traits, in part due to increasingly large sample sizes. Moreover, novel approaches to genetic risk quantification have been shown to improve upon traditional methods by more accurately incorporating the growing number of genetic markers with observable effects on common complex traits into a single construct, leading to greater predictive power and clinical translation. This project aims to derive and validate risk scores for BP traits and assess their predictive power for HTN and related morbidity and mortality.

Impact of research: 
We expect our research to make important contributions to the calculation of ORS in the field of genetic research. Additionally, our adult sample span 35 years, allowing us to look at not only cross-sectional BP measurements, but also changes over time. This by itself represents a unique opportunity to investigate genetic susceptibilities to complex traits and the addition of the ALSPAC cohort would allow us to follow genetic markers with an observed effect on BP from the beginning to the end of life.
Date proposal received: 
Friday, 17 January, 2020
Date proposal approved: 
Friday, 17 January, 2020
Keywords: 
Genetic epidemiology (including association studies and mendelian randomisation), Hypertension, DNA sequencing, Blood pressure, Cardiovascular, Genetic epidemiology, Genetics