Brain-Heart Interconnectome
Diseases of the brain and mind system (e.g., neurodegenerative, cerebrovascular, mental health conditions) and the cardiovascular system (e.g., coronary disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation) exceed all other diseases in disease burden and mortality worldwide. In Canada, the economic burden of heart disease, stroke and dementia alone is more than $55 billion per year, with the continued rise in these conditions set to overwhelm our health-care budget (more than $20 billion in annual health-care costs). Indeed, brain-heart conditions have been a major contributing factor to the pandemic-related excess burden that has brought Canada’s health-care system to a crisis point.
The brain and heart are profoundly interlinked in health and disease. In the disease setting, they are mutual risk factors, with the frequent co-occurrence of brain and heart diseases associated with particularly poor outcomes, magnified by their biological fate and social inequities. Yet brain-heart diseases are currently siloed in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research.
The Brain-Heart Interconnectome, involving the interconnected nature of the brain and heart, will be the first dedicated interdisciplinary research program to study, prevent and treat co-occurring brain-heart disorders. The program will deliver:
- biomarker and imaging tools for early diagnosis, risk prediction and intervention;
- biopharmaceutical interventions to treat brain-heart disease co-occurrence;
- lifestyle, non-pharmaceutical and cultural interventions to treat and prevent these diseases and to build resilience;
- prevention and treatment strategies targeted to underrepresented, Indigenous and ethnic communities at high risk; and
- transformational, patient-led care models in a learning health system.
The research initiative will train the first generation of research leaders in interconnectome science and brain-heart integration, leading the way with novel integrated knowledge translation and approaches to research that embed equity, diversity and inclusion. The Brain-Heart Interconnectome will be recognized globally for the Brain-Heart Collaborative Portal, facilitating big data collaboration, up-to-date information and tools for health professionals and patients. These will contribute to a Canada-first Brain-Heart Health Action Plan.
The Brain-Heart Interconnectome program unites longstanding areas of priority and excellence from the University of Ottawa, McGill University and the University of Saskatchewan. With CFREF funding, the Brain-Heart Interconnectome program will engage more than 48 government, non-governmental organization, private sector and academic partners. It will lead a globally renowned paradigm shift in brain-heart diseases, improving the health and quality of life of Canadians, while benefiting the Canadian economy and Canada’s global standing in this research area.