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Genetic basis for heart attack
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan seeks to understand the genetic basis for heart attack and use this knowledge to improve cardiac care. Beyond LDL cholesterol genes, he has shown that inherited heart attack risk may be due to monogenic mutations that impair clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins or due to a polygenic model, that is, the cumulative impact of multiple DNA polymorphisms. He has developed a test for polygenic risk, and showed that statin therapy or a healthier lifestyle can modify polygenic risk. He has also identified gene mutations that confer resistance to heart attack by enhancing the clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, findings which have inspired the development of new medicines. Dr. Kathiresan is the current Director of the Center for Genomic Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Initiative at the Ó³»­´«Ã½, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.