Breakthrough ‘Heart’ Discovery Raises Hope for Significant Medical Advances
In a pioneering development in the field of medical research, a complex cluster of heart cells with cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been grown using stem cells at a research laboratory in the University of East London (UEL).
The research carried out by
, senior lecturer at the University’s
, involved growing the stem cells in a dish and differentiating them into heart tissue, so they function like a miniature human heart, complete with heartbeat. Because they have heart disease they could be of enormous value in devising treatments for CVD, which kills one in six people globally.
The researchers are also looking to harness the power of predictive AI as a diagnostic tool in their work with the stem cells. It’s hoped AI will help them understand the intricacies of heart disease and its relationship with the
. The stem cell hearts are being used as models to assist scientists understanding of the mechanisms of the disease, enabling them to better target effective treatments for it.
While not a full formed heart, the ‘heart in a dish’ does have many of the characteristics of the normal human organ, providing researchers with an opportunity to study CVD in a controlled and dynamic environment without the need for animal experiments. There’s particular interest in seeing if the use of AI can help accelerate advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of age-related heart conditions.
said,
CVD remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and aging is a significant risk factor for its development. Our research aims to comprehensively explore how aging influences the mechanisms underlying heart diseases, ultimately leading to innovative approaches in mitigating the impact of cardiovascular conditions on older populations.
“We are working on cutting-edge research here in developing new disease models, and developing AI to predict disease earlier, and to develop new treatments to treat heart disease.
“Intricate changes in the contractions of a heart when they contract and relax are very hard to detect with the human eye, and the use of AI will mean the intricate changes will be able to be detected through the changes in the shape of the cells as they beat. These changes can be used as a prognostic marker for aging – either healthy ageing, or potentially detrimentally aging, and therefore having a diseased heart model could revolutionise treatments and be a game changer in the field of diagnostics.”
The AI has been developed in collaboration with
, AI Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, UEL.
Dr Ruchaya is open to collaborating with other researchers and organisations with an interest in his field of research. He can be
to discuss how his work can be used more widely to help answer key questions in improving our understanding of
.
Dr Ruchaya’s work ties in with UEL’s ongoing ‘
’ 2024, which is set to culminate in the holding of the British Science Festival on our Docklands campus in September. We are marking the year with a series of exciting events showcasing our ground-breaking research and UEL’s activities in areas such as sustainability, health and early years.
The Year of Science will also explore how technology and AI are impacting lives, careers and communities in a variety of ways, and how science can be used to create a greener, fairer and healthier world. The school of health sport and bioscience is home to several courses is the medical field including BSc (Hons)
and BEng (Hons)
.