About the Authors

Melanie Kolz

Contributed equally to this work with: Melanie Kolz, Toby Johnson

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Toby Johnson

Contributed equally to this work with: Melanie Kolz, Toby Johnson

Affiliations Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland, University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Serena Sanna

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Istituto di Neurogenetica e Neurofarmacologia, Cagliari, Italy

Alexander Teumer

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Veronique Vitart

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation MRC Human Genetics Unit, IGMM, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Markus Perola

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, FIMM, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Helsinki, Finland

Massimo Mangino

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation DTR Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Eva Albrecht

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Chris Wallace

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation The Diabetes Inflammation Laboratory, Cambridge Institute of Medical Research, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Martin Farrall

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliations Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Åsa Johansson

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Department of Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Dale R. Nyholt

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia

Yurii Aulchenko

Affiliation Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Jacques S. Beckmann

Affiliations Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Service of Medical Genetics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland

Sven Bergmann

Affiliations Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland

Murielle Bochud

Affiliation University Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Morris Brown

Affiliation Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Addenbrookes Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Harry Campbell

Affiliation Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

for the EUROSPAN Consortium
John Connell

Affiliation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Anna Dominiczak

Affiliation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Georg Homuth

Affiliation Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Claudia Lamina

Affiliations Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany, Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria

Mark I. McCarthy

Affiliations The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom, National Institute for Health Research, Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom

for the ENGAGE Consortium
Thomas Meitinger

Affiliation Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Vincent Mooser

Affiliation Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Patricia Munroe

Affiliation The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, England

Matthias Nauck

Affiliation Institut für Klinische Chemie und Laboratoriumsmedizin, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

John Peden

Affiliations Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Holger Prokisch

Affiliation Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Perttu Salo

Affiliations Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, FIMM, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Helsinki, Finland

Veikko Salomaa

Affiliation Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Institute of Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Nilesh J. Samani

Affiliation Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, United Kingdom

David Schlessinger

Affiliation Laboratory of Genetics, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Manuela Uda

Affiliation Istituto di Neurogenetica e Neurofarmacologia, Cagliari, Italy

Uwe Völker

Affiliation Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Gérard Waeber

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland

Dawn Waterworth

Affiliation Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Rui Wang-Sattler

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Alan F. Wright

Affiliation MRC Human Genetics Unit, IGMM, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Jerzy Adamski

Affiliation Genome Analysis Centre, Institute for Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

John B. Whitfield

Affiliation Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia

Ulf Gyllensten

Affiliation Department of Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

James F. Wilson

Affiliation Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Igor Rudan

Affiliations Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Croatian Centre for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia, Gen-Info, Zagreb, Croatia

Peter Pramstaller

Affiliations Institute of Genetic Medicine, European Academy Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), Bolzano, Italy, Affiliated Institute of the University Lübeck, Department of Neurology, Central Hospital, Bolzano, Italy

Hugh Watkins

Affiliations Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

for the PROCARDIS Consortium
Angela Doering

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

H.-Erich Wichmann

Affiliations Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany, IBE, Chair of Epidemiology, University of Munich, Germany

for the KORA Study
Tim D. Spector

Affiliation DTR Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Leena Peltonen

Affiliations FIMM, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Helsinki, Finland, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Henry Völzke

Affiliation Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Ramaiah Nagaraja

Affiliation Laboratory of Genetics, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Peter Vollenweider

Affiliation Department of Medicine and Internal Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland

Mark Caulfield

Affiliation The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, England

for the WTCCC
Thomas Illig

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Christian Gieger

christian.gieger@helmholtz-muenchen.de

Affiliation Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, National Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany

Competing Interests

Vincent Mooser and Dawn Waterworth are full-time employees of GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company. Peter Vollenweider and Gerard Waeber received financial support from GlaxoSmithKline to build the CoLaus study.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AFW JA JBW UG JFW IR PP HW AD HEW TDS LP HV RN PV MC TI CG. Performed the experiments: HP RWS. Analyzed the data: MK TJ SS AT VV MP MM EA CW MF ÅJ DRN YA CL PS RWS CG. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: JSB SB MB MB HC JC AD GH MIM TM VM PM MN JP VS NJS DS MU UV GW DW TI. Wrote the paper: MK TJ CG. Conducted meta-analysis: MK TJ EA CG.