DoM's Dr. Glen Jickling, along with Dr. David Wishart, will examine how genes interact with environmental factors to affect stroke risk and stroke outcome.
8 May 2025
By Gillian Rutherford, Folio
Genomics could hold the key to stroke risk, U of A researchers say
A team of ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ researchers has been granted $4.79 million over four years to better understand how genetic and environmental factors like diet and exercise interact to affect stroke risk and stroke outcome.
There are 94 genetic variants associated with stroke, but little is known about how they actually affect a person’s risk of having a stroke.
With the new funding from , and others, the team will use high-tech “multiomics” methods to examine the DNA (genomics), RNA (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics) and metabolism (metabolomics) in biobanked blood samples from 3,200 Canadian stroke patients. They will then cross-reference those results with clinical and other records to search for patterns using machine learning.
The goal is to identify biomarkers — or molecular indicators — that could lead to better stroke prevention and risk assessment tools, and ultimately the discovery of precision treatments that target the newfound risk factors.
“Stroke’s a complex disease and there’s not one clear gene that causes stroke, so taking a multiomics approach where you integrate genetics with other biological markers to understand that complexity is a very useful approach,” says stroke neurologist and co-lead , who is also .
“Genetic mutations increase your susceptibility to a disease, but there’s a huge component of the environment that also plays a role,” explains co-lead , Distinguished University Professor with appointments in computing science, biological sciences and laboratory medicine, and .
“Someone might have the genetic propensity for a stroke but they exercise regularly, maintain a good weight, a good diet, and that environment has an impact on whether they have a stroke,” says Wishart. “That’s why metabolites and proteins will also be measured.
“It’s that interplay between genes and environment that we’re trying to tease apart.”
Jickling says speedy diagnosis is key with stroke because many of the medications to treat it must be taken within a few hours of the stroke occurring.
“Identifying stroke is challenging, so we’re hopeful part of this work will be developing an omic marker to help clinicians diagnose stroke better and faster to guide treatment,” Jickling says.
“Also, some of our treatments don’t always work. You can be on aspirin or a blood thinner and still have a stroke. We’re hopeful that we can identify new targets to better prevent strokes.”