# Genetic Risk Score for Coronary Heart Disease in the Hispanic/Latino Population

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2022 · $48,025

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the leading causes of death for the Hispanic/Latino population living in
the United States (U.S.). The rates of CHD in the Hispanic/Latino community are similar to the non-Hispanic
white population; however, risk factors for CHD among Hispanics/Latinos are more prevalent. As the largest and
expanding minority group in the U.S., Hispanics/Latinos face a disparate burden of CHD risk, especially as the
population ages. Within the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL),
hypercholesterolemia is the most prevalent risk factor for CHD among Hispanic/Latino men and the second most
common among women. In addition, levels of awareness, treatment, and control of high cholesterol in this
population are very low. One way to reduce the burden of CHD is to target therapy and primary prevention in
high-risk groups. A genetic risk score (GRS) has been used in European ancestry populations to identify those
at higher risk for CHD events and who would benefit most from statin therapy. Unfortunately, genetic research
to date has predominantly been conducted in populations of European ancestry, creating a disparity in this area
of study. While many phenotype-genotype associations have generalized across populations, the portability of
a GRS derived from a European ancestry population may be suboptimal due to differences in linkage
disequilibrium, allele frequencies, and genetic architecture; nonetheless, it has been shown that selecting genetic
variants from the robust genome-wide association study (GWAS) literature in European ancestry populations
generally performs well in a Hispanic/Latino population and begins to address gaps in knowledge of genetic risk
among understudied populations. The purpose of this study is to utilize a previously constructed GRS, using
weights derived from a multiethnic cohort analysis that included a small subset of Latinos, to assess its
association with incident CHD in the HCHS/SOL cohort, to evaluate the association of the GRS with incident
CHD among statin users, and to evaluate whether the GRS improves prediction of CHD over traditional risk
factors or whether traditional risk factors mediate the relationship between the GRS and CHD. The overall results
have implications for lessening health disparities among Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S. and advocating for
diverse populations in genetic research. The activities incorporated into this proposal (study design, advanced
statistics, quantitative/computational approaches, and presentation of findings) cover the set of fundamental
research skills required by a scientist entering the interdisciplinary field of genetic epidemiology in the era of
Precision Public Health. The applied experience gained from carrying out this research, combined with didactic
training and individual mentoring, comprises a comprehensive research training plan that will serve as a platform
to launch my career as an independ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10516015
- **Project number:** 5F31HL154570-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Christina G Hutten
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $48,025
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10516015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10516015, Genetic Risk Score for Coronary Heart Disease in the Hispanic/Latino Population (5F31HL154570-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10516015. Licensed CC0.

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