Mathilde Løk Olsen- PhD Scholarship 2025
Project summary:
Childhood Obesity, Genetics, and Cardiac Remodeling
Globally, one in five children are affected by overweight or obesity. Obesity in childhood can cause changes to the heart muscle (called cardiac remodeling), which may persist into adulthood and significantly raise the risk of future cardiovascular disease. Critically, we do not yet know if these cardiac changes can be reversed following obesity treatment, or how a child’s genetic profile influence their risk. This study will track changes in children’s hearts following obesity treatment in a 5-year follow-up study.
Project Title
Childhood Obesity, Genetics, and Cardiac Remodeling
Background
Childhood obesity can lead to changes in the heart muscle including elevated left ventricular mass and potentially left ventricular hypertrophy. Importantly, not all children respond the same way, and some may retain these cardiac changes even after a reduction in obesity. Advanced genetic risk assessment using polygenic risk scores (which analyze many genetic variants simultaneously) may help identify which children are most at risk of developing potentially harmful cardiac changes. This could enable targeted interventions to prevent future cardiovascular disease.
Aim
This research addresses a critical knowledge gap of the effect of obesity on the growing heart and the potential effect on the trajectory of cardiovascular health. I aim to investigate whether early obesity-related cardiac changes can be reversed after a reduction in obesity in children and adolescents, and to determine the impact of elevated genetic risk on these outcomes.
Methods
I will conduct 5-year follow-up examinations of 300 children and adolescents from the HOLBAEK Study cohort. We will conduct comprehensive health assessments including detailed cardiac imaging using cardiac MRI and blood samples for metabolic analysis. All participants had identical examinations performed at baseline, including genetic analysis to calculate their polygenic risk scores.
Mathilde Løk Olsen
- MD
- University of Copenhagen
Main supervisor:
Niels Vejlstrup, MD, PhD, Consulting cardiologist, Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet
Co-supervisors:
Professor, Torben Hansen, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen
Jens-Christian Holm, MD, Associate Professor, PhD, The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk
Professor Thomas Jespersen, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Morten Asp Vonsild Lund, MD, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet