Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Complex Genetics and Congenital Heart Disease

Casey Gifford, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology) at Stanford University

Abstract: The heritable component of most common diseases is thought to be multigenic in nature, arising from the complex relationships of multiple variants that are not sufficient to cause disease in isolation but contribute to pathogenesis cooperatively. Recent evidence from our lab as well as others has suggested that multigenic mechanisms may underlie congenital heart disease. Here, I’ll discuss the efforts of my lab to use human induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation to dissect the complex genetic interactions that underlie heart development and likely contribute to congenital heart disease.

Advancing the Utility and Application of Engineered Human Cardiac Tissues

Sharon Fleischer, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University, Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering (Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic Laboratory)

Abstract: Engineered cardiac tissues derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are increasingly used for drug discovery, pharmacological studies, and in modeling development and disease. Here, I will discuss the milliPillar platform, a robust and versatile technology that has been developed and validated to provide a streamlined pipeline for reproduction and utilization of engineered cardiac tissues for in vitro research. In addition, I will demonstrate the utility of the platform to diagnose myocarditis and improve heart disease risk stratification for precision medicine.

Bioprinting of Perfusable Cardiac Tissues at Therapeutic Scale

Sebastien Uzel, PhD, Research Associate at Harvard University (Jennifer Lewis Laboratory)

Abstract: The ability to biomanufacture vascularized human cardiac tissues, and ultimately, full heart ventricles for repair, replacement or regeneration from patient-specific cells is a grand challenge. My talk will highlight the various methods of bioprinting, biomaterials design, and tissue assembly that our team has developed to recreate the scale, cellular density, and function of cardiac tissues from human pluripotent stem cells.