Identification of Blood Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Peripheral Arterial Disease

Persons with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) and healthy individuals will be recruited for a study to identify novel blood biomarkers for the diagnosis of PAD. Participants will be matched for age and sex. They will have their Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measured. They will then be asked to return to the clinic within two days to provide a fasting blood sample. The intern will conduct a literature review regarding potential biomarkers for PAD diagnosis and become familiar with the diagnostic capabilities and equipment developed by Koven Technology Canada. They will learn about potential approaches for developing a diagnostic kit (based on a panel of biomarkers) from both technical and marketing points of view. The intern will confirm the inclusion and exclusion criteria to distinguish persons with PAD from those who are healthy, and they will assist with obtaining the clinical samples. This research will serve as the basis for a subsequent study involving a comparative analysis of the blood samples by metabolomics to identify potential biomarkers. The intern will assist with the necessary correlation analysis for selecting compounds capable of serving as blood biomarkers for PAD.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Peter Zahradka

Student:

Youjia Du

Partner:

Koven Technology

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

University of Manitoba