Established and
Emerging Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in Young Adults
Coronary heart disease
(CHD) is the number one killer of men and women in the United States and
very little is known about CHD risk factors in young adults (18-24 years
of age). The purpose of the 2008 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
(SURF) in the Lipid Lab at the University of Rhode Island is to familarize
a student in techiniques utilized for measuring blood lipids such as
cholesterol, blood lipoproteins such as low density lipoprotein
cholesterol, and other components of lipoprotein metabolism such as
apolipoproteins and hormones. The measurements during the summer will be
completed on blood samples collected during the spring of 2008 for the
Nutritional Assessment and Chronic Disease Risk Factor Identification in
Young Adults Study (IRB #HU0708-029). The SURF student will gain
proficiency with various biochemical assays; however, the concentration
for the SURF student will be measuring a selection of apolipoproteins
associated with CHD. After completing the apolipoprotein assays, the SURF
student will investigate associations between the apolipoproteins and
criteria of the metabolic syndrome present in the study population. The
metabolic syndrome is a collection of five metabolic abnormalities that
are associated with increased risk of CHD and include hypertension, large
waist circumference, decreased high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and
elevated triglycerides and blood glucose. The research will provide much
needed information on the presence of CHD risk factors in young adults as
well as help a student further develop compentencies in scientific
methodology.
