Project Title: Multi-omics investigation of human susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD).
Lead Researcher: Dr Owen Tang (also involved Dr Helen McGuire/Professor Gemma Figtree)
Funding: January 2024 – December 2025

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) comprises a majority of these CVD-related deaths, with one Australian dying from a heart attack every 12 minutes. The number of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease has been increasing in recent years partly due to the increasing prevalence of major traditional risk factors such as diabetes and obesity.

Importantly, the research group of Dr Owen Tang and Professor Gemma Figtree recently reported that up to 27% of heart attack patients had none of the standard modifiable traditional risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking. Interestingly, despite the prevalence of CAD in humans, their closest animal relative, chimpanzees, are not known to develop coronary atherosclerosis despite having higher levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), which are considered pro-atherogenic in humans.

To their knowledge, there has only been one case report of a female chimpanzee dying after a coronary plaque rupture. This opens a new question on why humans are more prone to developing CAD despite having no prior signs or warnings and highlights the need to search for novel biomarkers that could unravel the mechanisms of CAD.

The research team of Dr Owen Tang are wanting to research the susceptibility of humans to CAD, taking advantage of the lessons learned from chimpanzees using available biobank material. They’ll use different methods to compare the blood and blood vessels of humans and chimpanzees, working with Taronga Zoo, Sydney Heart Bank, and other experts from the University of Sydney.

Their research project will help them: 1) to understand how the immune cells and blood chemicals and proteins are different between humans and chimpanzees in relation to heart disease; 2) to see what changes happen in the human blood vessels that make them more likely to get blocked and burst; and 3) to discover new molecules that can protect or harm the heart. These findings will help them learn more about how heart disease happens and how they can diagnose and treat it better.

Project Title: Multi-omics investigation of human susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD).
Lead Researcher: Dr Owen Tang (also involved Dr Helen McGuire/Professor Gemma Figtree)