Peptide-based material for heart muscle repair

With over 17 million deaths per year, heart diseases remain the top cause of mortality worldwide. Surgeries such as bypass restore blood supply and save lives. However, after a heart attack the capacity of the heart to pump blood is reduced. In Canada, over 2 million people aged 20+ live with heart disease, costing the healthcare system $2.8+ billion and thousands die each year. Approximately 1 in 4 of these patients develop heart failure, a number that increases by ~50,000/year. For many of those patients, a heart transplant is the only option. Thus, better treatments for repairing damaged hearts are urgent. In this project, we will develop a new generation of peptide-based materials to deliver stem cells to the damaged heart muscle and help rehabilitate the organ. This new therapeutic approach will be tested in small animals with infarcted hearts that will expedite advancing to first in human evaluation in the years to come.

Faculty Supervisor:

Emilio Alarcon

Student:

Partner:

University of Ottawa Heart Institute

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

University of Ottawa

Program: