AtheroPortal

“Unlocking Human Plaque Data for Faster Cardiovascular Research”

Studying atherosclerosis has always faced a major hurdle. These fatty plaques build up in our blood vessels and cause heart attacks or strokes and researching them is complex. While researchers often use cell or mouse models to understand the disease, these models do not always reflect what actually happens in the human body. To truly understand cardiovascular disease, researchers need to look at real human tissue. 

That is exactly why the UMC Utrecht started the Athero-Express biobank back in 2002. At the time of writing, it has grown to be one of the largest collections of human atherosclerotic plaques in the world, it connects human plaque tissue with patient data, genetics, and molecular analyses. 

But there has always been a catch. Getting access to this treasure trove of data takes time. Strict privacy laws and formal legal procedures rightfully protect individual patient data, meaning researchers cannot simply log in and look around. 

Until now. 

Safe. Fast. Open.

Unlocking Human Plaque Data for Faster Cardiovascular Research.

Enter AtheroPortal: Safe, Fast, and Open Data 

To bridge the gap between strict patient privacy and the need for open, accessible science, our team at UMC Utrecht has officially launched AtheroPortal. 

AtheroPortal is a centralized, secure platform that gives researchers direct access to the wealth of data inside Athero-Express, and it does this without ever exposing individual patient files. It works by sharing aggregate, summary-level results. 

How does this help researchers in the real world? Imagine you are studying atherosclerosis in a lab and you identify a specific gene in a mouse model that seems to drive plaque buildup. Instead of spending months applying for biobank access to see if this gene matters in humans, you can simply log into AtheroPortal, type in your target gene, and instantly see the big picture. 

You can immediately retrieve data on: 

• How that gene is expressed in human plaques. 

• Whether it is linked to specific plaque characteristics like inflammation or calcification. 

• How it relates to actual clinical outcomes in patients. 

It provides the human tissue context needed to quickly validate lab findings. This saves researchers an enormous amount of time and effort. 

Democratizing Cardiovascular Data 

What makes AtheroPortal stand out is its accessible approach. You do not need to be a data scientist or have bioinformatics skills to align, combine, and preprocess these complex datasets yourself. Our platform handles all of that background work for you. It lowers the barrier to entry for biomedical researchers across the globe. 

This platform represents a new way of working with biobank data. It fully embraces the FAIR principles of Open Science (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) while keeping patient privacy absolutely paramount. 

Who Can Use AtheroPortal? 

Because the portal only shares summary-level data, access is highly streamlined. It is categorized by user type: 

• Academic Researchers: You can request access by simply registering on the AtheroPortal, sharing your background, and explaining your intended use. Once approved, you are good to go. 

• Industry Researchers: Access for commercial organizations is handled on a case-by-case basis through a public-private partnership with our partner, AtheroScreen. 

• Need Individual Data? If your study requires per-patient data or physical biological samples, you will still need to use the formal Athero-Express access procedure via DataverseNL. 

Looking Ahead 

This launch is just the beginning. We plan to continuously expand the portal with new datasets, multi-omics layers, and analytical tools to further support your research. 

The main takeaway? If you are translating findings from the lab to human cardiovascular disease, AtheroPortal offers a fast, structured, and legally secure way to test your hypotheses in real human data without starting from scratch. 

Development of the portal was supported in part by the EU Pathfinder MIRACLE and the HealthHolland 'Getting the Perfect Image' projects. 

Ready to explore the data? Visit atheroportal.nl to get started.