Oana Patricia Zaharia is investigating why the risk of cardiovascular diseases varies between women and men – and whether these differences depend on the type of diabetes. While diabetes is today considered a heterogeneous disease, scientists still don’t fully understand the role sex hormones play in cardiovascular health. To explore this further, the researchers are analyzing two large patient cohorts: People who have had a heart attack and people newly diagnosed with diabetes. The researchers hope to spot early warning signs and to develop precise, sex-specific strategies for prevention and treatment by measuring hormone levels and cardiovascular biomarkers and using advanced data analysis.