Brain and heart conditions are leading causes of disease and death in Canada, with a devastating impact on patients and their families. They are also deeply interconnected, in ways that are now beginning to be understood. The Brain-Heart Interconnectome (BHI) is a ground-breaking interdisciplinary research program aimed at accelerating prevention, detection, treatment and care of brain-heart disorders, supported by a $109 million grant from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF).  

We seek to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of concurrent brain-heart-mind conditions through integrated collaboration among brain, heart and psychiatric researchers; patients, physicians and partners across academia, industry and government; and community organizations. 

Our objectives are to: 

• Understand the fundamental pathogenesis of connected brain and heart conditions 
• Identify risk prediction tools for chronic brain and heart conditions, incorporating wide-ranging social determinants of health 
• Develop novel biomarkers and imaging approaches to predict, diagnose, gauge severity and monitor interventions 
• Develop novel therapeutics and interventions 
• Mobilize knowledge and evaluate real world implementation and effectiveness of new integrated prediction, diagnosis, intervention and care models for brain-heart conditions 

BHI researchers will also look at lifestyle — including non-pharmaceutical and cultural interventions to treat, prevent and build resilience — and develop targeted prevention and treatment strategies for marginalized, Indigenous and high-risk ethnic communities.  

This initiative will help train the first generation of research leaders in interconnected brain-heart research, paving the way with novel integrated knowledge translation- and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)-embedded approaches to research.