UM’s Joshua Hare is pioneering the use of stem cell therapy to repair damaged hearts. He is helping run two studies on the use of mesenchymal stem cells to improve the health of patients with cardiovascular disease. One focuses on heart failure caused by coronary artery disease; the second targets heart failure from other causes. Mesenchymal stem cells can become bone, fat, cartilage, muscle and other tissues—and they can rejuvenate damaged tissues.
Hare is also studying the use of gene editing to correct malfunctioning genes driving some heart disease and working with organoid technology, in which some of a patient’s skin cells are reverted to their immature state. These “induced pluripotent stem cells” can be differentiated into virtually any tissue, allowing scientists to make miniature, 3D organoids to use as disease models.
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