Consortium to develop natural materials for heart regeneration gets EU funding
MAJOR new EU funding for research into heart disease has been announced by a group led by Ireland-based RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) and AMBER (Advanced Materials and Bio-Engineering Research).
Receiving EUR8.7 million in total funding (EUR6.8 million direct EU contribution), the AMCARE (Advanced Materials for Cardiac Regeneration) project involves ten partners from five European countries. The funding is part of the European Union’s Framework Programme 7, Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies.
The consortium, led by Dr Garry Duffy of the Department of Anatomy and Tissue Engineering Research Group, RCSI and Amber investigator, will carry out research to develop natural materials and new surgical devices to enhance the delivery of the body’s own stem cells to the heart to promote healing after a heart attack (myocardial infarction) and prevent premature death. The therapies being developed will replace heart cells that die due to the reduced blood flow that occurs during a heart attack, with new healthy cells derived from stem cells that come from the patient’s own bone marrow. Moreover, the consortium represents a major interdisciplinary effort between stem cell biologists, experts in advanced drug delivery, research scientists, clinicians and research-active companies working together to develop novel therapeutics to address the challenges of treating acute heart disease. The researchers will optimise adult stem cell therapy using smart biomaterials and advanced drug delivery, and couple these therapeutics with minimally-invasive surgical devices.
The European Society of Cardiology estimates that one in every six men and one in every seven women in Europe will die from a myocardial infarction and according to the Irish Heart Foundation, approximately 10,000 people die in Ireland every year from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) including heart disease, stroke and other circulatory diseases. The most common cause of death in Ireland (33%), CVD is the number one cause of death globally, killing an estimated 17 million people each year according to World Health Organisation.
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