uOttawa Heart Institute scientists create injectable gel that restores cardiac function after heart attack
Posted on Friday, October 25, 2019
Scientists at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) have developed the first human protein gel material capable of repairing damaged heart tissue after a heart attack.
The all-Canadian innovation is an “unprecedented leap forward” in addressing repair of cardiac muscle after a heart attack, says Dr. Emilio Alarcon, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine, a scientist in the UOHI Division of Cardiac Surgery, and one of the lead authors of a recently published paper in Nature Communications.
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Scientists have developed the first human protein gel material capable of repairing damaged heart tissue after a heart attack. Photo credit : University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Dr. Emilio Alarcon (8th from left) poses with members of his research team. He has travelled the world, he says, to assemble this talented group. From left to right: Antony El-Khoury (NSERC summer fellow), Madison Bak (MSc student), Brook Biniam (Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)), Ashley Baldwin (lab manager), Dr Veronika Sedlakova (postdoctoral fellow), Justina Pupkaite (PhD student), Sarah Mclaughlin (PhD student), Dr. Christopher McTiernan (postdoctoral fellow), Dr. Erik Suuronen (director, BEaTS), Maxime Comtois-Bona (co-op student), Dr. Marcelo Muñoz (postdoctoral fellow) and Alex Ross (MSc Student). Missing from photo: Dr. Marc Ruel, Zohra Khatoon, Erik Jacques, David Cortes, Michel Grenier, Keshav Goel. Photo credit : Joanne Steventon