With the support of an $11.6 million National Institutes of Health grant, scientists at Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine will explore new possibilities in stem cell-based treatments for heart repair and regeneration.

 

The multimillion dollar grant, awarded under the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, will fund a project aimed at better understanding the regenerative capabilities of stem cell-derived microvesicles known as exosomes. Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine Raj Kishore, director of the Stem Cell Therapy Program in the medical school’s Center for Translational Medicine, will serve as principal investigator. 

 

The award will also support related collaborative projects led by Pharmacology Professor and Chair Walter Koch, director of the Center for Translational Medicine, and Cardiovascular Research Center Director Steven Houser, senior associate dean for research and chair of the Department of Physiology.

 

Heart disease is on the rise in the U.S. and is the No. 1 leading cause of death in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kishore, Koch and Houser’s research could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of people by uncovering a new treatment option.

 

“The goal will be to translate our findings into new therapies for patients with heart disease,” Houser said.