The purpose of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences Biorepository is to collect and store information and biospecimens (blood, urine, stool, and heart tissue) from patients with and without cardiovascular and metabolic diseases to create a readily available biorepository of samples and related medical health information to expedite future research into the causes and consequences of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and other vascular diseases, like stroke, and metabolic diseases, like diabetes, are consistently in the top ten causes of death (CDC, 2024). There is clearly a need for continuing research and innovation into improved diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

The goal of this biorepository is to provide an easily accessible collection of samples for researchers to utilize. The biorepository will also serve as a place to store residual samples from other cardiovascular disease (CVD) studies for future use, to make the best use of these biospecimen resources.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Willing and able to sign the informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

• Chronic anemia (hemoglobin consistently <9 g/L)

We will enroll persons with diagnosed cardiovascular or metabolic disease(s), persons with a family history of cardiovascular and/or metabolic disease(s), and persons without known cardiovascular or metabolic disease(s). The targeted number of participants to be enrolled is indefinite.