Objective 4: Identify factors that account for individual differences in pathobiology and in responses to treatments
Research advances in areas such as genomics and other “omics” (e.g., proteomics, metabolomics) have provided new opportunities to deepen our understanding of HLBS pathobiological processes and how they vary among individual patients by sex and other factors. Accelerating progress toward precise, individualized prevention efforts and medical interventions will require research into biological factors, environmental exposures, behavioral factors, and other influences that account for differences in pathobiology and unique responses to treatment (including drug reactions and other adverse events). This research will allow personal and clinical decisions, practices, and medical products to be tailored to the individual patient to help produce the best possible outcomes.
- Develop precise clinical interventions across the lifespan by sex and based on an individual’s environmental exposures, behaviors, genotypes, and molecular-cellular phenotypes.
- Accelerate the incorporation of new imaging, omics, and sensor technologies with advanced data analytics to inform a more precise clinical classification of chronic diseases and acute conditions (e.g., asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive lung disease, heart failure, myocardial infarction), and enable more accurate diagnosis and treatment.
- Develop and define individual HLBS health signatures by integrating all reliable and available data (e.g., genome-wide association studies (GWAS), multiomics, genetic and non-genetic information, social/environmental factors) to guide personalized prevention strategies and clinical interventions.
Overarching Objectives
- Understand normal biological function and resilience
- Investigate newly discovered pathobiological mechanisms important to the onset and progression of heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
- Investigate factors that account for differences in health status among populations
- Identify factors that account for individual differences in pathobiology and in responses to treatments
- Develop and optimize novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to prevent, treat, and cure heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
- Optimize clinical and implementation research to improve health and reduce disease
- Leverage emerging opportunities in data science to open new frontiers in research on heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
- Further develop and sustain a scientific workforce capable of accomplishing NHLBI’s mission