Engineering Post-MI Gene Therapies
Myocardial Infarction (MI) or Heart Attack is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. While the immediate treatment for this condition is well established as reperfusion of the ischemic area; chronic post-MI cardiac damage remains a pernicious issue. We are developing protective and regenerative adeno-associated virus (AAV) mediated gene therapies to counteract this chronic damage and thereby improve the health and quality of life of those who have suffered MI.
Imaging of Cardiac Targeted Gene Therapies
A thorough understanding of the molecular and functional impacts of a disease state and potential gene therapies is critical for further development of those therapies. We are developing processing techniques for CMR and confocal microscopy to assess the efficacy of AAV mediated gene therapies in the post-MI heart.
Epidemiology Modeling and Wastewater Monitoring
Collaborators: Heman Shakeri PhD and Michael D. Porter PhD
During the COVID-19 pandemic we conducted wastewater monitoring in the city of Charlottesville. Alongside this we developed an agent based model of the pandemic in Virginia.
COVID-19 Vaccine and Therapeutic
Collaborators: Dr. Craig Slingluff, MD
A former major initiative in the lab, spurred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, is the development of a combined gene therapy and peptide vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The project has received funding from internal sources at the University of Virginia and is currently in preclinical stages of assessment in murine models.
