Speaker:

Associate Professor Aitor Aguirre

Dr. Aguirre obtained his B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of the Basque Country and his Ph.D. in Material Science and Tissue Engineering at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). For his postdoctoral training, Dr. Aguirre joined The Salk Institute under the supervision of J.C. Izpisua-Belmonte, where he explored in vivo reprogramming applied to cardiac regeneration and made significant contributions to non-coding RNA biology in human development. Dr. Aguirre extended his postdoc at the University of California San Diego, studying cardiac metabolomics and lipidomics, and implementing CRISPR technologies for functional genetic screens. Dr. Aguirre became Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, in 2017 and joined IQ and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Michigan State University one year later. Dr. Aguirre has extensive experience in studying cardiac development and regeneration, cardiovascular disease and stem cell biology. His lab is supported by the NIH, NSF, AHA, and numerous other foundations and clinical initiatives.

Title:

'Synthetic heart models for the study of human cardiac development and disease'

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) stands as the leading cause of death globally. Conventionally, animal and cellular models have been extensively used to investigate mechanisms of CVD, establish cardiac safety, and develop new therapies. Nonetheless, ∼90% of drugs tested in animal models fail in clinical trials, ∼45%-60% due to unanticipated human toxicity, particularly cardiotoxicity. The limitations of current models highlight the urgent need for more sophisticated tools to investigate human diseases and accelerate the translation of research from bench to bedside. Over the last decade, and owing to significant advances in stem cell technologies, organoids have emerged as powerful tools for cardiovascular studies. Organoids are three-dimensional, miniature organ-like structures that mimic the architecture and function of real organs, providing a more physiologically relevant model for research compared with traditional two-dimensional cell cultures. In this talk, I will describe our group's progress in creating human heart organoid models in recent years and the applications of these models for cardiac development, cardiotoxicity, cardiac safety, and cardiometabolic disease modeling.

Host:

Dr Joaquim Nunes Vieira

Our series is open to the public and King’s staff and students are encouraged to attend.