Bioinformatics and Biostatistics

Cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, are a major cause of death globally. Lipid-lowering therapies and interventions lower the risk of major adverse clinical events such as myocardial infarction, but significant residual risk remains. The proposed Program, “Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Atherosclerosis,” seeks to better understand this residual risk and investigate possible mechanisms and interventions that could further lower cardiovascular risk. The Program focuses on mechanisms of atherosclerotic plaque stabilization and destabilization, with a focus on macrophages and their functions. Core B, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, will provide state of the art, coordinated services to the Program as a whole, and thus help the Program achieve its overall goals. These services include (A) bioinformatic analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data; B) bioinformatic analysis of CITE-seq data; C) bioinformatic analysis of bulk RNA-seq data; and D) biostatistical support for study design, power, and correlative analyses. All Projects will use Core B services equally. The use of Core B will enable application of state of the art bioinformatic and biostatistical analyses in consistent, integrated and coordinated analysis pipelines within and across all three Projects for maximum scientific inference, translation and impact as well as highest standards of reproducibility and comparison among all Projects of the PPG Program and for data resource sharing and dissemination.