Associate Professor McTaggart and Rotary Tasmania district governor Peter Murfett yesterday announced the funding of the registry, to be established by the Launceston Clinical School.

Professor McTaggart said direct relatives of people with genetic heart disease had a one-in-two chance of inheriting the condition, but sudden death often occurred without any knowledge of the disease.

He said the registry would enable greater identification of those with the condition, making it easier to prevent heart failure and death.

``It is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in a young person and such an event can be prevented if a person knows about it and undertakes proper treatment and supervision,'' he said.

Dr McTaggart said cardiologists would primarily be responsible for signing people to the register by supplying the names of willing patients to research workers.

He said the project would not have been possible without an $18,000 donation from Rotary Tasmania.