The center aims to pursue a line of clinical research that addresses the problem of cardiovascular risk factors in a comprehensive and integrated manner, considering the progressive affirmation of two fundamental principles: the integrated nature of risk factors and the quantification of their impact based on an overall assessment of the patient's risk profile, and the growing availability of information suggesting that different risk factors (even those that appear to be independent) may have unexpected pathophysiological links, the nature of which has been studied in depth in recent years.
The Center has both the cultural background and the reference structures to meet the criteria identified above, and in particular:
- Constant and uninterrupted publication and teaching activity on the subject, as well as senior and advisory positions on the boards of directors of societies dedicated to the study of cardiovascular risk;
- Outpatient facilities dedicated to the management of complex patients in the areas of hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and related and emerging risk factors; and dedicated to the study of special populations such as children and adolescents, pregnancy, and its short- and long-term complications;
- Independent diagnostic capacity for non-invasive methods of investigating cardiovascular diseases, both in traditional and innovative settings. Privileged access to complex or invasive diagnostic methods. In addition, collaboration in integrated pathways for complex diagnosis in the field of CV risk factors.
- Clinical research aimed primarily at studying the pathophysiological interactions of various risk factors and the impact of their interaction on the early CV involvement parameters described above. Laboratory support for research through accurate biochemical evaluation, extraction, and storage of genetic material for use in national and international projects, studying the density and gene polymorphisms that control RAAS activity and the expression of angiotensin II receptors as a primary hub of the physiological connection between risk factors.
- Participation and/or conduct of numerous clinical studies aimed at evaluating the efficacy or mechanism of action of new therapeutic solutions in the CV field;
- Over 40 years of conducting the Brisighella Heart Study, which represents the platform from which to obtain: the trend over time of cardiovascular risk factors to be subsequently subjected to rigorous evaluation through a controlled clinical study, the collection of genetic material for the search for polymorphisms currently used for pharmacogenomic studies and for the characterization of mechanisms potentially involved in the impact of new CV risk factors.