About the group
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity.
The Cardiovascular Research Group (CRG) is co-hosted by the Institute of Clinical Medicine (KLINMED), University of Oslo (UiO) and Department of Cardiology, Division of Medicine, Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) and is physically located in the university (Campus Ahus) and hospital facilities at Ahus.
CRG was established in 2005 by the current head of the group, professor Torbjørn Omland MD, PhD, MPH.
In 2022 the group gained status as the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Cardiac Biomarkers. Read more about the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Cardiac Biomarkers here.
Goals and Strategy
From the start the ambition of the group has been to conduct high-quality, translational and clinical-epidemiological research with the aim of promoting personalized therapy in cardiovascular medicine.
To achieve this goal the group established an extensive collaborative network with leading investigators, nationally and internationally.
Long term objectives inlcude
- To discover novel cardiovascular disease biomarkers and potential drug targets using both hypothesis-based and unbiased proteomics-based approaches.
- To assess the physiology and pathophysiology of candidate biomarkers and drug targets using experimental models of myocardial ischemia and heart failure.
- To enhance the knowledge and understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms linking subclinical myocardial injury to the risk of heart failure development, cardiac arrhythmias and cardiovascular death.
- To perform investigator-initiated randomized-controlled clinical trials with the aim to prevent subclinical myocardial injury and delay its transition to symptomatic heart failure in cancer patients receiving cardiotoxic therapy.
- To assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of circulating and imaging cardiovascular disease biomarkers in large population-based cohorts, as well as in cohorts of patients with acute coronary syndromes, chronic coronary artery disease, cancer patients receiving cardiotoxic therapy and heart failure.
Strategies to obtain these goals include
- Training and recruitment of inter-disciplinary junior and senior academic staff with complementary competences.
- Translational research approach
- Close collaboration with leading investigators nationally and internationally
- Close collaboration with the in vitro diagnostics, cardiac imaging and pharmaceutical industry
- Obtain robust funding
- Recruitment, internationalization and mobility
Cooperation
With the help of good collaboration with partners in the Oslo area, nationally and internationally, the research group has succeeded in developing a high-quality research environment within a few years.
The group also attaches great importance to communicating research externally in order to profile Akershus University Hospital and the University of Oslo.
National collaborators
- Institute for Experimental Medical Research (IEMR), Oslo University Hospital
- Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag (HUNT)
- Stavanger University Hospital
- Haukeland University Hospital
- St. Olavs Hospital
- Norwegian Cancer Society
- Norwegian Heart Lung Association (LHL)
International collaborators
- Harvard University
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- University of Texas Southwestern
- University of Edinburgh
- Istituto Mario Negri
- Atherosclerosis Risk in the Community (ARIC)
- Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
- Dallas Heart Study (DHS)
- Uppsala University