Heart disease remains the leading cause of death around the world and will continue to be so for the rest of the 21st century. After several decades of research, we know what causes heart disease but it remains a challenge globally to prevent it and much research is still required to inform new prevention strategies into the future. These prevention strategies require research that takes a different approach to the study of heart disease. In the past, much research on heart disease has focused on males and often ignored important differences between the sexes. This means that much of what we know about heart disease and how we go about preventing it today is based on research in males. As a result research which studies males and females separately and the differences between them is required.

In addition to the need to study differences between females and males, there is a need to study social differences in heart disease risk, since the risk of heart disease differs substantially by social factors such as education and income. However, though we know social inequalities in heart disease risk have existed for many decades and start as early as infancy and young childhood, reduction of social inequalities in health has proven challenging for society. This is because many social factors such as income or education are difficult to change. Thus research which focuses on the risk factors (smoking for example) which are easier to change and that link social risk factors like education and CVD across the life course is required.

Addressing key knowledge gaps in the sex-and social epidemiology of CVD across the life course, this project aims to improve understanding of the role of social risk factors in heart disease risk across a person’s life using a number of different approaches in world-leading studies of children and adults. Improving understanding of sex-specific heart disease risk can inform different, more effective preventions strategies in females and males than strategies informed by research which treat females and males the same. In addition, gaining a better understanding of the role social risk factors in the heart disease risk across the life course can inform realistic approaches for prevention of social inequalities in heart disease across a person’s life time.