Big Data

For Better Hearts

BigData@Heart

Work packages

BigData@Heart consisted of 7 work packages that investigated and realised the tools and methodologies necessary to leverage the value of big data approaches for cardiovascular disease.

Work package 1

Project management


WP1 addressed the overall project management to ensure progress of the project towards its planned objectives.

Work package 2

Disease understanding and outcomes definition


The objective of WP2 was to set a solid basis for developing standardized, operational definitions for HF, AF, and ACS, including patient-relevant outcomes, and develop reliable sub-phenotyping and inform new taxonomies of HF, AF, and ACS based on better understanding of underlying disease processes. These definitions and outcomes were used in diverse clinical practice and data settings.

Work package 3

Data sources (mapping, selecting and curating existing data)


The ultimate goal of WP3 was to create a beyond-the-state-of-the art, open-acess informatics platform that bridges the available knowledge on AF, ACS, and HF, related comorbidities and current/emerging risk factors from observational and experimental studies.

Work package 4

Enrichment with Omics


The overarching goal of WP4 was to improve disease definitions and to further sub-phenotype CVDs into molecularly well-defined and well-characterised subgroups.

Work package 5

Data analysis


The overaching goal of WP5 was to provide and implement a toolkit of basic and cutting edge analytical methods to achieve objectives described for studies of ACS, AF, and HF, with a particular focus on phenotypes underpinning research and innovation, insights from real-world evidence and patient-centred outcomes, and therapeutic target identification and prioritisation.

Work package 6

Communications of results and guidance documents (dissemination and exploitation)


The objective of WP6 was to ensure broad dissemination of the BigData@Heart project results and to further exploit the project results and make them available to all the relevant stakeholders (e.g., patient organisations, regulatory agencies, healthcare providers, CVD researchers, industry, healthcare payers, and policy makers).

Work package 7

Ethics legal and data privacy (governance, ethical and legal aspects)


As the BigData@Heart incorporated data from a large number of studies, the objective of WP7 was to deal with all the relevant ethical and legal issues in order to establish a sustainable governance for the data infrastructure during the project and beyond.

WP1 project leaders

  • Rick Grobbee, UMC Utrecht
  • Stefan Anker, Charité
  • Gunnar Brobert, Bayer
  • Maureen Cronin, Vifor Pharma

WP2 project leaders

  • Stefan Anker, Charité
  • Suzanne Gaunt, ICHOM
  • Tomasz Dyszynski, Bayer
  • Amitava Banerjee, University College London
  • Benoit Tyl, Servier

WP3 project leaders

  • Richard Dobson, University College London
  • Kiliana Suzart-Woischnik, Bayer
  • Rachel Studer, Novartis
  • Spiros Denaxas, University College London (co-lead)

WP4 project leaders

  • Harry Hemingway, University College London 
  • Tom Lumbers, University College London  
  • Steve Williams, SomaLogic
  • Benoit Tyl, Servier

WP5 project leaders

  • Angela Wood, University of Cambridge
  • Rick Grobbee, UMC Utrecht
  • Christoph Gerlinger, Bayer
  • Fabrice Couvelard, Servier

WP6 project leaders

  • Panos Vardas, ESC
  • Susanne Løgstrup, EHN
  • Maureen Cronin, Vifor Pharma

WP7 project leaders

  • Hans van Delden, UMC Utrecht
  • John Butler, Bayer
  • Ghislaine van Thiel, UMC Utrecht (co-lead)