Personalized Medicine:
Complex Genetics Initiative

There are over 6 million known ways that human DNA can vary from one person to the next. Some rare diseases are caused by a single change in one gene while other common diseases like obesity, coronary artery disease, and diabetes may be caused by several genes working together. This study hopes to learn about the genetic causes of common cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and discover how different people respond to medications and treatments.

Over the next five years 100,000 adult volunteers seeking patient care at Penn Medicine will be invited to join the Genetics of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Phenotypes Study. The study will build a DNA bank to help identify genes involved in complex cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and disorders. A DNA bank is a place to store DNA so it can be used now and for future research.

Contact:
Jennifer Morrissey, MSN, MBE, CRNP
(215) 615-5443

Trial Details »
Complex Genetics Initiative »

The Partner Trial

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is one of a handful of medical centers participating in the PARTNER trial - (Download PDF) - a new procedure that could change the lives of more than 120,000 heart patients. This study will determine the safety and effectiveness of the Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve device and delivery systems (transfemoral and transapical) in high risk, symptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis. This dramatic new procedure makes no cuts in the chest at all. A catheter carrying a tissue valve as wide as a pencil is threaded up the artery from the leg to the aortic valve, where it positions the new valve over the damaged one.

This study includes primary investigators from both the Cardiovascular Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery Divisions at Penn.

Contact:
Lisa Walsh, Research Nurse Coordinator
215-662-4289

Trial Details »
6 ABC News Video »
Philadelphia Inquirer Feature (PDF)

Penn Heart Failure Study

We do not fully understand why patients develop heart failure. High blood pressure and blocked arteries can cause heart failure, however, many patients develop heart failure without these conditions. We think that certain genes may make some patients more likely to develop heart failure. This study hopes to find genes that contribute to heart failure.

We estimate that up to 5000 people will participate in this research study. Heart failure patients referred to the Penn Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Clinic are eligible to participate in this study.

Contact:
Kimberly Craig, Research Program Manager
(215) 662-6900

Trial Details »
Human Heart Tissue Bank Study »
Penn Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation »