Markers for Sub-Clinical Cardiovascular Risk Assessment (EU-MASCARA)
Research Areas
At a Glance
- Status: Active Consortium
- Year Launched: 2011
- Initiating Organization: European Comission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)
- Initiator Type: Government
- Disease focus:
Cardiovascular - Location: Europe

Abstract
The Markers for Sub-Clinical Cardiovascular Risk Assessment (EU-MASCARA) consortium aims to improve diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and prediction of cardiovascular risk by analyzing a panel of biomarkers. EU-MASCARA aims to validate biomarkers that have been proposed to be associated with cardiovascular disease and risk across different disease entities and also in independent general population samples. The most robust biomarkers will be implemented in novel biochip-based assays for clinical use.
Mission
The Markers for Sub-Clinical Cardiovascular Risk Assessment (EU-MASCARA) consortium aims to examine genetic, proteomic, and metabolomic markers together with markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and cardiac remodeling to study their incremental diagnostic and predictive value over and above existing diagnostic and predictive algorithms. For this purpose, a large number of cohorts from different European regions, both patient and population cohorts that have been accurately assessed for cardiovascular phenotypes, are readily available to the consortium. Access to clinical samples and to standardized cardiovascular phenotypes will be granted by a strong clinical platform as one of the key work packages of EU-MASCARA. Both cross-sectional and prospective analyses will be performed in hopes of developing improved risk prediction scores.
Consortium History
Start date: Dec. 1, 2011
End date: Nov. 30, 2015
Structure & Governance
The consortium is heavily supported by contributions of SMEs in key areas of the proposed research: biomarker testing, data handling and analysis, assay development, and project management. EU-MASCARA is further characterized by a strong integrative approach both within and across work packages, with results from one task informing strategies of research in other tasks. With a dedicated bioinformatics and health economic platform, the most robust biomarkers will be selected and analyzed for their benefit in clinical practice.
Financing
Funded by EU FP7.
Over 80 peer-reviewed published papers, most recently “Heritability and other determinants of left ventricular diastolic function in the family-based population study.”
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Points of Contact
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Sponsors & Partners
University of Glasgow |
Emergentec Biodevelopment GmbH |
Kite Innovation (Europe) Limited |
La Fundacion para la investigacion del Hospital Clinico de la Comunidad Valenciana |
ACS Biomarker BV |
Istituto Auxologico Italiano |
Randox Clinics Limited |
Maastricht University |
Fundacian Para la Investigacion Medica Aplicada FIMA |
Mosaiques Diagnostics GmbH |
Medizinische Universitat Graz |
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover |
Universita degli Studi di Milano – Bicocca |
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven |
Charite – Universitatsmedizin Berlin |