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Jennifer Blundo
Mechanical Engineering
Bio-X
Graduate Student Fellowships 2006/2007
Professor Christopher Jacobs (Mechanical Engineering)
The powerful potential of stem cell therapy motivates a better understanding of the basic mechanisms regulating developmental biology. The role of mechanical and electrical forces in the adult physiology and pathology has been well documented, and Jennifer is interested in what clues these phenomena may hold for generating robust, terminally differentiated stem cells. The pluripotent capacity of human embryonic stem cells makes theman attractive source for cell-based myocardial therapy. Specifically, the delivery of cardiac myocytes, which constitute 70-80% of the adult myocardium, may restore tissue viability and function to ischemic tissue damaged by a heart attack.
Her research is motivated by the limitations of current methods to derive cardiac myocytes from stem cells. The aim is to increase the differentiation yield of cardiac myocytes through electromechanical conditioning and ultimately the in vivo performance of myocardial cell-transplants. |
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