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Natarajan Lab

Summary

The Natarajan Lab is led by Pradeep Natarajan, MD, MMSc, at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute. The lab specializes in genetic epidemiology, statistical genetics, and clinical bioinformatics to understand the inherited basis of cardiovascular diseases. Key achievements include large-scale genome-wide and exome-wide association studies (GWAS/ExWAS) to identify novel therapeutic targets and refine polygenic risk scores.

Research Focus

  • Genetics of Blood Lipids: Identifying rare and common genetic variations that influence lipid profiles and risk of coronary artery disease (CAD).
  • Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP): Investigating how somatic mutations in blood cells contribute to cardiovascular disease risk.
  • Precision Medicine and Clinical Translation: Utilizing large biobanks like the Million Veteran Program (MVP), UK Biobank, and All of Us (AOU) to improve patient risk stratification.

Notable Studies

In a 2026 study published in Nature Genetics (Koyama et al. 2026), the lab led an exome-wide association study of blood lipids in 1,158,017 individuals across diverse ancestries, identifying 800 exome-wide significant associations and establishing RORC as a promising therapeutic target for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC).

Citations