A Pilot for the Victorian Cohort Study (ViCS)

The Victorian Cohort Study will be a large, prospective study of cardiovascular disease affecting elderly Australians. The cohort will comprise approximately 20,000 subjects aged 55 to 64 years at baseline, on whom information will be collected on a wide spectrum of risk exposures, including measures of atherosclerotic burden. Sera and DNA will also be preserved long term. Follow-up will be at least 20 years, with the outcomes of interest being CVD and associated utilisation of healtthcare services. The study will provide vital new epidemiological data relevant to contemporary Australians. Knowledge about the determinants of CVD and the ability to accurately portray risk for its future onset and development will allow for the determination of the most effective and efficient preventive strategies. This, in turn, will lead to a reduction in the immense disease burden which currently threatens our rapidly ageing society.

This project is funded by the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

Chief Investigators

• Prof Andrew Tonkin
• Prof John McNeil
• Prof Stephen Harrap  University of Melbourne
• Prof Henry Krum

Ohter Investigators

• Dr Dianna Magliano
• Dr Danny Liew