Spring Seminar: Karen L. Christman, PhD, FAHA
Speaker: Karen L. Christman, PhD, FAHA,
Professor of Bioengineering,
Jacobs School of Engineering,
University of California
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2017
Time: 12:20pm start, 12:15pm lunch
Place: Stevenson Center 5326
Title: Biomaterials for Treating the Heart
Abstract: Biomaterials have significant potential to treat various cardiac conditions, including both adult and pediatric. In particular, new therapies for myocardial infarction are needed given that heart failure post-myocardial infarction continues to be the leading cause of death in the western world. Biomaterial and tissue engineering approaches to myocardial repair are providing exciting new possibilities. Injectable hydrogels are particularly attractive since they have the potential to be delivered via a minimally invasive, catheter-based approach, thereby reducing risk to the patient. In addition to these minimally invasive materials, hydrogels can also play a role in improving outcomes for cardiac surgery patients. Recent developments and translational progress with hydrogels designed specifically for treating the heart will be discussed.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Christman received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2000 and her Ph.D. from the University of California San Francisco and Berkeley Joint Bioengineering Graduate Group in 2003, where she examined in situ approaches to myocardial tissue engineering. She was also a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles in the fields of polymer chemistry and nanotechnology. Dr. Christman joined the Department of Bioengineering in 2007 and is a member of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Her lab, which is housed in the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, focuses on developing novel biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications, and has a strong translational focus with the main goal of developing minimally invasive therapies for cardiovascular disease. Dr. Christman is a fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and has received several awards including the NIH Director’s New Innovator and Transformative Research Awards, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Translational Research Award, the American Heart Association Western States Innovative Sciences Award, and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society’s Young Investigator Award. Dr. Christman is also co-founder of Ventrix, Inc., which is in clinical trials with the cardiac extracellular matrix hydrogel technology developed in her lab at UC San Diego.