Engineering Human Heart Models to Advance Minnesota-Grown Therapeutics and Prevent Radiotherapy-Induced Cardiac Degeneration

Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of modern cancer treatment, using ionizing radiation to destroy tumor cells in over half of all patients. While effective, it can also harm nearby healthy tissue. In thoracic cancers, such as lung, esophageal, and breast, radiation can damage the heart. Despite this well-recognized problem, no therapies exist to prevent or treat this type of injury. This project is  developing a‘’heart-on- a-chip’  using human pluripotent (adult) stem cells. This human-based approach, an alternative to traditional animal models, can be used to study how radiation affects the heart and test new therapies. The long-term goal of this work is to enable safer cancer treatment, and improve quality of life for survivors.