From Left: Jessica Durrant-Whyte (Research Assistant), Serene Yeow (PHD Student) and Dr. Holly Voges (Senior Researcher)
Welcome to our new Meet the Scientist blog series.
HeartKids is thrilled to launch this new series which brings innovative research on childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD) closer to our community, showcasing the real-world impact for those navigating CoHD.
First up, meet Dr. Holly Voges and her pioneering work exploring how stem cells can be used to create heart valve tissue at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne. MCRI is an important HeartKids partner, and together through a Research Collaboration Agreement, we have committed to bridging the gap between healthcare, research and the CoHD community.
Hi, I’m Dr. Holly Voges, a senior researcher in the heart regeneration group at MCRI. My research is currently focused on heart valves, which are essential tissues inside the heart that control blood flow.
We are using exciting new technology to create heart valve tissue in a dish to treat childhood heart valve disease one day. Using stem cells, which we create from patient blood samples, we can make heart valve tissue the same size as the tissue in your heart. We hope these heart valve tissues will be used in surgery to replace damaged ones.
The impact of using stem cells from the person needing a new heart valve means that they would receive a tissue perfectly matched to their body. Having this match means patients would not have to take lifelong immunosuppression drugs and could avoid having multiple surgeries before adulthood. We are making significant progress towards preclinical testing of our stem cell-derived heart valve tissues to ensure that they are safe to use in the human body.
This research has the potential to transform the lives of children who may need heart valve surgery to restore heart function in the future. Members of the HeartKids community who have lived experience of heart valve disease are encouraged to contact the Heart Flagship at MCRI to discuss being involved with our Patient Advocacy Group, where they will hear regular updates related to this work and other research projects.
“Ultimately, this research could help to find medicines that don’t currently exist for a patient group that don’t have any options other than surgery, which currently is not providing patients with a viable future”. – MCRI Patient Advocacy Group member
This technology is very exciting, but this is just the beginning of what we can do to create replacement tissues from stem cells. We are the first team in the world to make 3D life-size heart valve tissues, and we will continue to improve them as we work towards better future therapies for childhood heart valve disease.
To learn more about this research project, please visit the Heart Regeneration group webpage or MCRI’s Heart Flagship website.
