PARADIGM:

Plastic-Associated Risk—An Atherosclerotic Disease Investigation by a Global Multidisciplinary Team

Understanding how plastic-associated environmental exposures may influence atherosclerosis, spanning population evidence, biological mechanisms, and translational opportunities.

About PARADIGM

PARADIGM is an international research collaboration formed to address an urgent and emerging public-health question: how do plastic-associated environmental exposures interact with human biology to influence atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease?

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PARADIGM Team

Leadership

Nicholas J. Leeper, MD

Professor of Surgery and Medicine
Chief of Vascular Medicine and Director of Vascular Research, Stanford University

Annette Peters, PhD

Director, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Munich
Professor and Chair of Epidemiology, LMU Munich

Senior Investigators

Chiara Giannarelli, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Cardiology and Pathology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Matthias Mann, PhD

Director, Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

Gerard Pasterkamp, MD, PhD

Professor of Experimental Cardiology
Focus Area Chair, Circulatory Health, UMC Utrecht

Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP

Jim G. Hendrick Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health
Vice Chair for Research, NYU

Lei Stanley Qi, PhD

Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Stanford University

Network Administrator Officer

Anna-Lena Bruggne

Anna-Lena is a biologist focused on the intersection of immunology, atherosclerosis, and environmental cardiology. She balances her scientific research with a strong commitment to socially impactful volunteer work and possesses “unique expertise” in Nicaraguan Midas cichlids.

Early Career Investigators

Kai-Uwe Jarr, MD

Senior Physician, Department of Cardiology, Heidelberg University Hospital
Junior Faculty (Early Stage Investigator), Heidelberg University

Juyong Brian Kim, MD

Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine

Yoko Kojima, MD, PhD

Research Scientist

Nadja Sachs, PhD

Head, Munich Vascular Biobank | Scientific Staff, TUM University Hospital

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Programs at a Glance

Build standardized, contamination-aware frameworks for studying plastic-associated exposures
Connect environmental exposure measures to vascular biology and disease features
Integrate human evidence with experimental and analytical validation
Identify biological pathways relevant to cardiovascular injury
Support translation through collaborative model systems and shared resources