# Polygenic Risk Scores for Diverse Populations - Bridging Research and Clinical Care

> **NIH NIH R01** · FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER · 2021 · $83,770

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Hypertension is a major public health burden in the US, due to its high prevalence among adults (~108 million,
45%) and strong association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature mortality. Compared to other
racial/ethnic groups, African-Americans have higher hypertension prevalence, higher mean blood pressure (BP),
earlier onset of hypertension, and a greater likelihood of developing treatment-resistant hypertension. In addition,
rates are increasing among Hispanic/Latinos, who have lower rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and
control. Advances in genomic research create opportunities for precision medicine to improve prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment of hypertension. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) that aggregate genetic risk variants into
a score help predict disease risk. Growing evidence demonstrates that PRS may add value beyond traditional
risk factors for identifying individuals at increased risk for CVD. Despite their promise, however, current PRS are
biased in populations historically underrepresented in genetic studies. Despite the increased risk of hypertension
in African-American and Hispanic/Latino populations, PRS originally trained on European ancestry (EA)
participants may not serve these populations. Indeed, applying EA-derived PRS to racially/ethnic diverse
populations has the strong potential to exacerbate longstanding racial/ethnic disparities in CVD and
hypertension. Thus, PRS derived in multi-ethnic populations are needed to ensure that all will benefit from
genomic research advances regardless of their race/ethnicity or ancestral heritage. The proposed research will:
1) Develop and evaluate PRS for hypertension related traits in the large and racially/ethnically diverse Population
Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study population, 2) Extend the multi-ethnic PRS
through integration of a lifestyle risk factor score (LRS) composed of non-genetic clinical and prognostic data to
improve predictive performance of PRS, and 3) Evaluate the clinical significance of hypertension related PRS in
electronic health records (EHRs) to improve biologic insight of hypertension-related diseases. These study aims
are nested within the parent study, Polygenic Risk Scores for Diverse Populations - Bridging Research and
Clinical Care, R01HL151152, a collaborative effort between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, and the University of Colorado Denver, using high-quality,
harmonized, and centrally available data from a network of cohorts and biobanks with linked EHRs, including
over 1.5M non-European ancestry participants. Through the proposed Postdoctoral Supplement, Dr. Love will
gain training in developing, validating, and assessing the clinical significance of hypertension related PRS in
multiethnic populations, lifestyle and genetic determinants of hypertension, and professional development. Skills
and findings obtained from th...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10381373
- **Project number:** 3R01HL151152-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher R Gignoux
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $83,770
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-08-20 → 2022-03-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10381373

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10381373, Polygenic Risk Scores for Diverse Populations - Bridging Research and Clinical Care (3R01HL151152-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10381373. Licensed CC0.

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