Diversity in Stroke Omic(s) and Epidemiology Research: Opportunities and Challenges

Personalized medicine in stroke faces the great challenge of genetic and ethnographical diversity. Genomics and other -omics research combined with epidemiological studies considering demographic, socioeconomic, and educational factors are powerful research approaches with the potential to greatly transform our understanding of stroke risk, clinical manifestation, recovery, and therapeutic interventions. Although individuals of non-European ancestry are disproportionately impacted by stroke, diversity in omics (genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, connectomics, and metagenomics) and epidemiologic studies of stroke have been relatively limited in this segment of the global population. Indeed, the vast majority of studies have focused predominantly on populations of European and more recently Asian ancestry. There is increasing awareness of the importance of gaining a better understanding of the biological underpinnings of the risk factors, susceptibility, and outcomes of stroke, using the omics approaches in people of all backgrounds, and understanding the impact of epidemiological factors in order to reduce health disparity.

With this Research Topic, we aim to highlight both the challenges and the many opportunities inherent in stroke omics and epidemiologic research among individuals of underrepresented populations, with a particular focus on individuals of African and Hispanic/Latino ancestry. The role of demographic, socioeconomic, and educational factors in these populations and their possible link with genetic factors are of particular interest. We would welcome large-scale international collaborations and multi-omics studies. We will also seek reviews and brief reports of individuals’ genomics (epigenetics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, etc.) studies. The overall goal is ultimately to demonstrate that multi-ancestry studies considering multi-omics and epidemiological factors in individuals of diverse ancestry will result in robust and more informative studies that would not only advance the field, but serve as a catalyst for the inevitable future of personalized medicine in general and stroke prevention and treatment in particular.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts addressing the diversity in stroke omics research and epidemiology in the broadest sense: diversity of research participants, data type, biological samples, and so on. In addition, we are interested in original research, mini-reviews, reviews, and short letters/brief communications. We will also consider studies that address the challenges of genomics and epidemiology of stroke research in underrepresented populations such as Australian Aborigines and Torre Strait Islanders, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians.