A new cloud-based research platform bringing together major Australian cardiovascular datasets is being rolled out to researchers, with plans to add further national and international data.
The Australian Cardiovascular Disease Data Commons (ACDC) has been developed to support research into new risk markers for heart attack and stroke and the development of precision medicine tools.
The platform links large Australian research cohorts with molecular profiling data, including genomic, metabolomic and proteomic data, as well as stored blood samples.
It is led by Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute professor Peter Meikle, University of Sydney professor Gemma Figtree and Australian BioCommons and University of Melbourne professor Bernie Pope.
The initiative is also supported by the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance, CAD Frontiers, the Heart Foundation and Bioplatforms Australia.
Professor Meikle said the platform would allow researchers to validate existing cardiovascular risk markers and identify new ones.
“It will help researchers test how well Polygenic Risk Scores work for Australians and help build the first combined lipidomic and genetic risk tool for Coronary Artery Disease,” he said.
ACDC uses the Gen3 data platform and allows Australian researchers to register, browse aggregated datasets and apply for access to individual-level data.
The project has received a $2.9 million Medical Research Future Fund grant and an additional $2.5 million in National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy support through Bioplatforms Australia.
The Baker Institute said ACDC was Australia’s first global standards-based human data commons and could integrate with international platforms, including those operated by the US National Institutes of Health.
Professor Meikle said up to 27 per cent of heart attack patients had none of the commonly recognised risk factors when they presented to a GP, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or smoking.
“We need to understand what’s really driving disease in these patients who are flying under the radar,” he said.
“This data commons will speed up how quickly new health technologies reach patients, and we expect it will generate a new precision medicine ecosystem in Australia.”
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