BME Seminar Series: Ge Zhang, University of Akron

Abstract:

"Developing Tissue Engineering Strategies for Cardiac Repair"

Myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure following MI are the major contributors to cardiovascular related deaths. In the United States, approximately 800,000 people will experience a new MI every year and an additional 470,000 will have a recurrent attack. Additionally, 5.7 million people suffer heart failure and 670,000 new cases are reported annually. Current clinical treatments for MI mainly focus on slowing the negative progression toward heart failure. Heart transplantation is the only effective option for long-term cardiac function restoration, but it is limited by organ shortage and complications associated with transplant rejection. Thus, there is a critical need for the development of alternative therapeutics to treat MI and prevent heart failure. Tissue engineering strategies are expected to improve engraftment of transplanted cells, as well as structural and functional recovery of the infarcted heart. This presentation will review the current major challenges in cardiac therapy and describe the journey of our development of tissue engineering strategies for MI treatment.

Bio:

Dr. Zhang earned a M.D. at Capital Medical University in China and completed a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 2006. She then received the postdoctoral training at the University of Texas at Austin in the field of cardiac tissue engineering. In 2009, Dr. Zhang joined faculty at the University of Akron and now is an associate professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Zhang is a member of the National Center for Regenerative Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and also a joint faculty in the Department of Integrative Medical Science at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Dr. Zhang’s research is focused on developing clinical relevant therapeutics that will improve the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Her research has been funded by Firestone Foundation, SUMMA Health system, Austen Bioinnovation Institute, NSF and NIH.