Biomarkers of Circadian Disruption and Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality despite significant advances in treatment. Patients with heart failure display marked clinical heterogeneity, suggesting the existence of biologically distinct disease subtypes. Emerging evidence indicates that circadian disruption may represent an important but under-recognised contributor to disease progression. Large-scale proteomic datasets now provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate biological timing in human populations and identify clinically useful biomarkers of circadian health. Currently there are no widely used clinical biomarkers that can assess circadian alignment or identify patients whose disease may be driven by circadian dysfunction. Hypothesis: We hypothesise that characteristic blood protein signatures can identify circadian disruption in patients with cardiometabolic disease and heart failure and may predict disease severity or therapeutic responsiveness. Project Goals: Students will analyse large-scale proteomic datasets and deeply phenotyped clinical cohorts to identify circulating biomarkers associated with circadian phase, circadian amplitude and cardiometabolic dysfunction. The project will integrate clinical data, bioinformatics and systems biology approaches to develop clinically relevant biomarker panels. Potential Outcomes: This work could lead to new diagnostic tools for identifying patients with circadian dysfunction and support the development of precision medicine approaches for cardiovascular disease. The project is particularly suited to clinician-scientists interested in cardiovascular medicine, endocrinology or translational research.