Heart failure (HF) is the final common pathway of cardiovascular (CV) diseases and leading cause of CV hospitalizations in Singapore and worldwide, with a mortality rate that rivals most cancers (>50% mortality at 5 years). Also similar to cancer, HF is a staged disease where early detection and treatment are vital for prevention of disease progression from Stage A (risk factors) to Stage B (subclinical structural heart disease) and Stage C (symptomatic HF). Cardiac imaging is critical for the detection of early subclinical disease. There is limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying disease progression and effective therapies are limited, particularly for the half of the HF population with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF or diastolic HF) for which there is no effective therapy to date (in contrast to HF with reduced ejection fraction [HFREF] or systolic HF).~The investigators overall aim is to build on Singapore's competitive advantages in advanced cardiac imaging, genetic and molecular studies to develop an integrated one -stop platform spanning from human to large and small animal models, dedicated to deepening the understanding of CV disease progression, discovery of new targets and repurposing of drugs.
To build on Singapore's competitive advantages in advanced cardiac imaging, genetic and molecular studies to develop an integrated one -stop platform spanning from human to large and small animal models, dedicated to deepening the understanding of CV disease progression, discovery of new targets and repurposing of drugs.