Program Leader: Richard Lee, MD

Click here to download the HSCI Cardiovascular Disease Program Overview.

The HSCI Cardiovascular Program has three primary aims: create a human model of cardiac disease by studying and working with human heart tissue; advance regenerative and interdisciplinary medicine in human cardiac cell therapy; and, develop the next generation of clinician-scientists.

To watch a video about the program, click here.

Progress and Breakthroughs

A new opportunity exists to create induced multi-potent cardiac cells using the reprogramming technique developed and refined by HSCI investigators. With this technology, the availability of human muscle tissue is potentially limitless, allowing researchers conduct experiments that were previously not possible. In parallel, the program is moving forward in its hESC research, specifically in the areas of transplant rejection prevention and heart muscle formation—two of the biggest hurdles in heart disease treatment.

In a recent breakthrough, HSCI Cardiovascular Program researchers purified a master heart stem cell. In collaboration with Kit Parker, PhD, of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and investigators from the Broad Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston, exciting follow-up work is being done to apply these master cells to an engineered thin film cardiac strip. The resulting strips of functional heart muscle have already been successfully transplanted in mice.

The development of the cardiac strip is moving the Cardiovascular Program in two critical directions. One research aim is ultimately to translate the cardiac strip technology to human transplantation. The other is to use the strips as new in vitromodel to screen potential drugs and chemicals for toxicity and effectiveness—an application that has already attracted a high level of private sector interest.

The scientific progress and growing excitement in the cardiac community can be seen by:

• our funding of several new seed grants in the cardiac field
• plans to create disease-specific cell lines with iPS cells from patients with different cardiac conditions to study the diseases and search for new treatments
• comparison of cardiomyocytes derived from iPS cells and ESCs to understand their functional differences at the organ level

Strengthening the Next Generation of Stem Cell Scientists

The HSCI Cardiovascular Program has taken a lead role in the training and fostering of the clinician-scientists—MD and MD/PhD investigators—in the HSCI community. Cardiovascular research is just one of the many areas of stem cell biology in which successful research requires not only current stem cell biology knowledge but also a clinical, surgical, and diagnostic understanding of disease in patients. Clinician-scientists will be essential to the translation of research into treatments and cures.

This year, with a gift from GlaxoSmithKline Research & Development Limited (GSK) and in cooperation with the Massachusetts General Hospital, HSCI launched a new Clinician Scientist Program to support these investigators at several stages in their careers and will provide funding for students enrolled in MD/PhD programs, fellowships for junior investigators, and laboratory start-up funds for clinician-scientists, all in the field of stem cell biology. Kenneth Chien MD, PhD, head of the HSCI Cardiovascular Program, will lead the new program.