by Richard Westlund – University of Miami Health
A multidisciplinary team at UHealth – University of Miami Health System and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is playing a key role in a collaborative clinical trial, funded by a $7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, that could transform the use of stem cells to regenerate damaged heart tissues.
The team is co-led by Joshua M. Hare, M.D., the Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine, founding director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute Cell (ISCI) and a heart failure/cardiac transplant cardiologist; and Aisha Khan, executive director of ISCI’s production laboratory.
“Cell therapy is emerging as a promising approach to helping patients with heart failure, a lethal, disabling and costly condition,” said Dr. Hare, who also serves as director of the Donald Soffer Endowed Program in Regenerative Medicine and senior associate dean for experimental and cellular therapeutics. “However, widespread adoption has been hindered by the invasive nature of delivering stem cells directly to the heart.”