The Dallas Heart Study: Laying the Groundwork for Precision Medicine

The landmark investigation, now known as the Dallas Hearts and Minds Study, has resulted in 20 years of data and 230 papers in leading journals – but, more importantly, its detailed participant data documented the feasibility of precision medicine worldwide.

If there is a key to biomedical discovery at UT Southwestern it lies in the ability to integrate pioneering basic research with exceptional clinical care. This mindset has made the Medical Center fertile ground for research that recognizes the important ties between genetics, environment, and health. While precision medicine is discussed in medical circles across the globe today, the Dallas Heart Study exemplifies UT Southwestern’s early start in the field and ability to anticipate the medical needs of tomorrow.

At its inception in 2000, the Dallas Heart Study aimed to gather data on the cardiovascular and metabolic risks of the people of Dallas County. Assembling more than 6,000 residents to participate in the Study, the research team collected unprecedented amounts of health information including general health surveys, state-of-the-art imaging data, blood assays, and genetic information with the goal of correlating a person’s genes with yet-unknown markers for disease.

While precision medicine is discussed in medical circles across the globe today, the Dallas Heart Study exemplifies UT Southwestern’s early start in the field and ability to anticipate the medical needs of tomorrow.

The late hypertension expert Ronald Victor, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine, R. Sanders Williams, M.D., President Emeritus of Gladstone Institutes, and Helen H. Hobbs, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics, and Director of the McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, designed the Dallas Heart Study as part of a grant application to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The core team eventually grew to include cardiologists James de Lemos, M.D., Darren McGuire, M.D., and Amit Khera, M.D., geneticist Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., and molecular biologist Eric Olson, Ph.D.

Even though this founding group was an early adopter of the theory that a person’s genetic information could provide clues to their risk of disease and response to therapies, the researchers could not have anticipated the global impact of their endeavor. Information collected through the study has been used worldwide to identify causative genes for heart attacks, liver disease, and mental health disorders.

Now known as the Dallas Hearts and Minds Study, it expanded its focus to include brain health, cognitive function, and memory loss to further our understanding of diseases and potential therapies for people worldwide.

THE ROAD TO DISCOVERY

1999

Drs. Victor, Hobbs, and Williams design the Dallas Heart Study as part of a grant application to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to gather a cross section of the heart and metabolic health of residents of Dallas County. The team was awarded a $24 million grant in 2000.

2000

The Dallas Heart Study is announced to the citizens of Dallas County by then-mayor Ron Kirk and other city leaders.

2002

Enrollment closes with 6,101 Dallas County residents from ethnically diverse backgrounds registered to participate.

2005

The Dallas Heart Study is expanded to a longitudinal cohort study with additional support from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and other donors.

2006

Using data available from the Dallas Heart Study, Drs. Hobbs and Cohen identify mutations in the PCSK9 gene as a genetic driver of low cholesterol, leading to the development of new cholesterollowering drugs that target the protein product of this gene. These therapies are now routinely used in clinics across the world and have been shown to reduce rates of heart attacks and strokes.

2010

Dr. de Lemos uses data from the Dallas Heart Study to identify troponin T level as a general indicator for structural heart disease and risk factor for death from any cause. A simple blood test for troponin T is now available for early detection of heart disease, allowing intervention before the disease becomes clinically evident.

2018

PNPLA3 gene variants are identified by Drs. Hobbs and Cohen to be a genetic cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of liver disease in the U.S. The researchers find that obesity can significantly amplify this genetic risk.

2020

The Dallas Heart Study expands its focus to the study of factors associated with heart and brain health with aging, and is renamed the Dallas Hearts and Minds Study. Researchers plan to measure how risk factors impact healthy aging, or the ability to avoid disease, and maintain good physical and mental function across the life span.

2022

Amil Shah, M.D., an international expert in heart disease research, is recruited from Harvard University to be the new director of the Dallas Hearts and Minds Study.

Present

UT Southwestern researchers continue to gather health information from study participants, making the Dallas Hearts and Minds Study one of the largest and most in-depth longitudinal studies of its kind.

Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., is Professor in the Center for Human Nutrition and in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development. He studies the genetic basis of metabolic disorders.

James de Lemos, M.D., is Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Cardiology. He studies cardiovascular biomarkers.

Helen H. Hobbs, M.D., is Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics, Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

Amit Khera, M.D., is Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Preventive Cardiology Program. He specializes in cardiac risk assessment and risk factor modifications.

Darren McGuire, M.D., is Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Parkland Hospital and Health System Outpatient Cardiology clinics. He studies cardiovascular disease prevention.

Eric Olson, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Molecular Biology and Director of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine. He studies muscle regeneration, muscle development, and disease.

Photo Caption: Helen H. Hobbs, M.D., (left) was one of the designers of the Dallas Heart Study, which grew to include Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D., (right) and others as part of the core team.