Smarter screening with lipidomics

Catalyst Partnership Grants

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Precision risk analysis. Proactive care.

The mCVDRisk score is a new blood test that integrates next-generation diagnostics into heart health checks to offer a clearer, more personalised picture of heart disease risk.

Smarter screening with lipidomics

This innovative clinical tool could give a more precise heart risk score, improving early detection in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Problem

When ‘intermediate risk’ leads to deadly outcomes

Despite decades of progress in cardiovascular disease management, it remains the leading cause of death in Australia and a major contributor to health inequity. Alarmingly, more than 150,000 cardiovascular events are expected to occur over five years among individuals currently classified as having ‘intermediate’ risk – people who often go untreated or undertreated often due to a lack of diagnostic clarity.

Existing risk assessments are important tools, but they primarily focus on conventional factors like age, cholesterol, and blood pressure. These alone do not always capture the true biological risk, particularly in women, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, and those without obvious warning signs. As a result, many at-risk individuals miss the opportunity for timely intervention.

There is an urgent need to enhance cardiovascular risk prediction by integrating deeper biological insights. Without these tools, clinicians are often left uncertain about how best to manage people at intermediate risk, and too many remain unaware of their true risk until it’s too late to act.

Solution

From fats to facts

To transform the early detection and prevention of cardiovascular disease, we have developed the metabolic CVD Risk (mCVDRisk) score – an innovative clinical tool that delivers greater precision and personalisation in risk assessment.

Cardiovascular risk arises from two main sources: our inherited (genetic) makeup and our environment, including diet, lifestyle, and other external exposures. The mCVDRisk score addresses both by combining advanced lipidomic profiling with polygenic risk scoring, offering a comprehensive view of an individual’s risk profile.

These technologies, when combined, provide a more complete picture of individual risk – especially for those who fall into the grey zone of ‘intermediate’ risk using standard tools. mCVDRisk has been shown to reclassify a substantial proportion of these individuals into more appropriate risk categories, allowing for earlier, more targeted treatment.

Designed to integrate into existing clinical workflows and adaptable for use in remote communities, mCVDRisk supports equitable access to preventive care. It represents a major step forward in precision cardiovascular medicine – offering a scalable, cost-effective way to reduce the burden of heart disease and save lives.

Impact

Reclassifying risk. Rewriting outcomes

The mCVDRisk score could reclassify more than 50% of people who go on to experience a cardiovascular event from ‘intermediate’ to ‘high risk’. The mCVDRisk enables timely, targeted treatment that could prevent up to 75,000 heart attacks and strokes in Australia over the next five years.

This platform not only improves individual outcomes – it also supports a smarter, more efficient healthcare system. Its ability to operate within existing clinical pathways and adapt to remote collection methods ensures equitable access, particularly for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and underserved populations.

With strong validation in over 16,000 individuals and robust health economic modelling, mCVDRisk is expected to be cost-effective for primary prevention and suitable for reimbursement under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). It lays the foundation for broader personalised care, with the potential to expand into other conditions like type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease and other cardiometabolic outcomes – marking a critical shift toward data-driven, precision prevention across Australia’s healthcare system.