Posts by Amit V. Khera, MD, MSc
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Body Fat Distribution Affects Risk of Cardiometabolic Disease
Based on data UK Biobank, Amit V. Khera, MD, MSc, and colleagues used a machine learning approach to measure visceral (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous (ASAT), and gluteofemoral (GFAT) adipose tissue volumes with high accuracy.
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Rare DNA Variants Protect Against Coronary Heart Disease, Provide More Evidence for Minimizing LDL-C
By studying 19,073 participants from U.S.-based study cohorts and 190,464 UK Biobank participants, a Massachusetts General Hospital team reports rare protein-truncating variants in APOB or PCSK9 are associated with reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and reduced risk of coronary heart disease.
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Healthy Lifestyle Linked to Less Risk of CAD in Patients With Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Akl C. Fahed, MD, MPH, Amit V. Khera, MD, MSc, and colleagues found that carriers of familial hypercholesterolemia gene variants who followed healthy lifestyle practices had minimal change in LDL cholesterol yet were at 86% less risk of coronary artery disease than carriers whose lifestyle was unhealthy.
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Polygenic Scores for Cardiometabolic Diseases Correlate Strongly Across Siblings
In a study with substantial implications for genetic counseling, Amit V. Khera, MD, MSc, of the Center for Genomic Medicine, and colleagues found that when individuals with high polygenic scores were defined as those in the top 20% of the distribution, about 45% of their siblings met the same threshold.
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Genome-wide Polygenic Score Validated for CAD in South Asians
A newly derived genome-wide polygenic score for coronary artery disease is specific for South Asians and enables striking stratification of disease risk in middle age.
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Genome-wide Polygenic Score Predicts CV Events in Secondary Prevention Population
A previously validated genome-wide polygenic score for coronary artery disease predicted major cardiovascular events among patients with high-risk vascular disease.
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Genome-Wide Polygenic Score Quantifies Inherited Susceptibility to Obesity
A new polygenic predictor permits identification, from the time of birth, of individuals who have inherited high susceptibility to obesity or severe obesity.
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Using Polygenic Scores to Identify Risk of Afib and 4 Other Common Diseases
Polygenic risk scores developed at Massachusetts General Hospital are equivalent to or better than rare monogenic mutations in identifying a specific individual’s risk of certain common diseases, including coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and type 2 diabetes.
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Increasing the Accuracy of Genetic Cardiovascular Fortune-Telling
The abundance of genetic data is allowing researchers and Mass General and beyond to make better disease predictions.
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Expanding the Primary Prevention Role of Lifestyle and Statins to Reduce First Cardiac Event Risk
Two recent high-profile studies from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Preventive Cardiology group expand practitioners’ toolkit during a consult by providing patients with two action steps to help manage risk of premature death from heart disease.
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Coronary Artery Disease: Pathways and Subtypes
Precision medicine can help answer whether or not current heart disease treatment paradigms optimally address genetic heterogeneity.
Biography
Dr. Khera received his BS in Biology and Neurosciences from Duke University in 2005, graduating summa cum laude. He received his MD with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 2013. He completed his clinical and research fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in 2016.
Dr Khera's research seeks to understand how naturally occurring variation in human DNA sequence contributes to inter- individual differences in risk for cardiovascular disease, in metabolic physiology, and in response to therapies. These questions are explored via research efforts in: (1) human genetics, (2) computational biology, and (3) experimental medicine. His research is pursued under the mentorship of Dr. Sekar Kathiresan.
In addition to his research efforts, Dr. Khera is a clinical cardiologist focusing on heart attack prevention, cardiovascular risk reduction, cardiac rehabilitation, lipid disorders, based at the MGH Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center.
