Personal Genomics and Cardiometabolic Disease
Investigating the Relationship Between Cardiac and Metabolic Diseases
The CVI's nationally recognized research program in Personal Genomics and Cardiometabolic Disease is taking a close look at molecular signs of heart disease with the goal of uncovering early disease risk factors.
Directed by Dr. Robert Gerszten, the Program in Personal Genomics and Cardiometabolic Disease at BIDMC is a national leader in metabolomics and proteomics technologies. Among its key discoveries, the Gerszten laboratory has identified novel biomarkers that single out individuals destined to develop diabetes and heart disease more than a decade before disease onset, with the goal of determining which of these patients might benefit from early clinical interventions.
The group's highly interactive program incorporates basic molecular and cell biology, chemistry and mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics, with a foundation in clinical medicine. The program collaborates with researchers from across numerous institutions, including the Broad Institute, the Framingham Heart Study, the Jackson Heart Study, the Diabetes Prevention Program, and the TIMI Study Group.
The Gerszten laboratory focuses on the nexus of cardiac and metabolic diseases. To expand the novelty and clinical impact of its studies, the laboratory has developed and incorporated emerging mass-spectrometry-based technologies for the discovery of new biomarkers and pathways contributing to atherogenesis and its complications.
Focusing on "metabolomics," the team is conducting biochemical profiling aimed at identifying intracellular small molecules serving in hormone-like capacities on distant organs, including the control of blood pressure and glucose homeostasis. Because small molecules are downstream of genetic variation and transcriptional changes, they serve as "proximal reporters" of physiology, and may be relevant biomarkers for human diseases.
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Our Team
Dr. Benson is the Director of Preventive Cardiology at BIDMC and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed his MD, PhD, and residency training at the University of Michigan Medical School and his cardiology fellowship training at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Benson's research interest focuses on integrating human genetic, proteomic, and metabolomic approaches to identify novel disease pathways and therapeutic targets in preventive cardiology that can be taken back to the bench for mechanistic study.
Dr. Chen is an endocrinologist and researcher studying the metabolic pathways involved in the development of diabetes and future cardiometabolic complications by studying circulating small compounds and proteins in large population cohorts. Her work is NIH-funded and aimed at understanding why people have different risks for developing diabetes and why they can have different responses to the same treatment. With her research collaborators, her goal is to identify biomarkers that will help fine-tune clinical risk assessment and begin to uncover how diabetes treatments can modify these risks. She is also working on expanding this knowledge in previously understudied populations, including African Americans and East Asians.
Dr. Cruz is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a non-invasive cardiologist specializing in advanced cardiac imaging. He received his medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. He completed his Internal Medicine training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and fellowship training in cardiology and advanced cardiac imaging at BIDMC. Complementing his ongoing research in the genetics and social determinants of cardiovascular disease, he is committed to underserved populations. His research interests include proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics of cardiovascular disease in understudied populations.
Dr. Mi attended college and medical school at Harvard before completing his internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship at BIDMC. He sees patients on the inpatient cardiology service and in the cardiac direct access unit. His research focus is in applying integrative omics approaches to understand nutrition's impact on cardiometabolic diseases.
Dr. Rao is a sports cardiologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Originally from the UK, Prashant earned his medical degree from King's College London. His research is focused on identifying the genetic and molecular basis of human fitness and performance.
Dr. Robbins is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a cardiologist, and researcher looking at the connection between exercise and cardiometabolic disease. His work is NIH-funded and aimed at helping understand why people respond to the same exercise program in different ways by studying genes, proteins, and small molecules. Robbins and his research collaborators hope to identify specific chemicals or biomarkers that help predict who benefits most from a given exercise program and to understand better how exercise mediates its exercise-induced health benefits. He also uses advanced cardiopulmonary exercise testing to study mechanisms of exercise intolerance.
Dr. Tahir is an Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Director of Cardiovascular Genetics at BIDMC. His research interests include the integration of bioinformatic approaches with detailed molecular phenotyping and novel omic technologies. His work aims to leverage multi-omic analyses (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) to elucidate mechanisms of cardiovascular disease processes, offering a path towards the development of novel biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.