Cardiovascular Initiative of the Human Proteome Organisation, 5th Workshop October 2007, Seoul, Korea Sarah Warburton 1 , Melanie Y. White 2, 3 , Jennifer E. Van Eyk 2 , Robert J. Cotter 4 , Peipei Ping 5, 6 , Michael J. Dunn 7 and Thomas M. Vondriska 1, 5, 6 1 Department of Anesthesiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 2 Bayview Proteomics Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA 3 School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia 4 Middle Atlantic Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA 5 Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 6 Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 7 Proteome Research Centre, UCD Conway Institute, University College, Dublin, Ireland The Cardiovascular Initiative (CVI) of the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) held its fifth workshop prior to the Sixth Annual HUPO World Congress in Seoul, Korea in October 2007. The objectives of this report are as follows: to trace the (relatively brief) history of the CVI for those who may not be acquainted with it; to highlight lectures given by members of the CVI during this Workshop; and to make the community aware of the aims of this Initiative, including collabora- tive projects currently under consideration. Received: November 20, 2007 Accepted: November 21, 2007 Keywords: Biomarker / Clinical and basic research / Gene ontology / Heart and vascular disease / HUPO 924 Proteomics 2008, 8, 924–926 1 Introduction and Brief History The basic motivation behind all HUPO Initiatives has been that the Organisation could facilitate tackling biological questions too grand (in terms of shear manpower and breadth of expertise) for individual laboratories. The Cardio- vascular Initiative (CVI) was formed on the basis of this same philosophy. Cardiovascular disease – encompassing coronary heart disease, cardiac hypertrophy/failure, rheumatic heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, atherosclerosis, stroke, peripheral vascular disease and a host of genetic syndromes – is projected to cost the United States .430 billion dollars in 2007 [1]. In 2004 (the most recent year for which comprehensive data is avail- able), cardiovascular disease afflicted 79.4 million people in the United States and was responsible for ,870,000 deaths, as compared with ,550,000 deaths due to cancer during the same time period; similar trends are projected for 2007 [1, 2]. Worldwide, 30% of all deaths are due to cardiovascular dis- ease (World Health Organisation (WHO) 2007. www.who.int). Perhaps more startling, the aging of the world population over the next two decades is predicted to be accompanied by a massive increase in deaths due to cardio- vascular disease from 16.7 million in 2002 and 17.5 million in 2005 to a projected 23.3 million in 2030 (World Health Organisation (WHO) 2007. www.who.int and [3]). Unmiti- gated by significant advances in our ability to detect, treat and cure these diseases, such increases in cardiovascular disease will certainly be accompanied by a major health and financial burden. The potential of proteomics to reveal novel biomarkers/ biosignatures of disease, as well as basic insights into bio- logical mechanisms, is well understood by readers of the Correspondence: Dr. Thomas M. Vondriska, BH 557 CHS Build- ing, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA E-mail: tvondriska@mednet.ucla.edu Fax: 11-310-825-2236 Abbreviations: CVI, the Cardiovascular Initiative; GO, gene ontology REPORT DOI 10.1002/pmic.200701083  2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.proteomics-journal.com