Education

The CardioRegen team is working to improve the lives of patients who have childhood heart disease (CHD). The aim of these educational resources is to inform our patients, families and their friends about our exciting CHD research.

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are special cells that can ‘self-renew’. This means they can create lots of copies of themselves that can then become many different cell types, including brain, nerve, kidney and heart cells.

In the last 15 years, biomedical researchers like us have transformed how we use stem cells. Now, we can use them to better understand what causes a disease, how a disease may progress in patients, and how to treat or cure that disease.

Watch our collaborators at The Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine explaining what stem cells are and what they can be used for.

Using stem cells to treat childhood heart disease

We can transform patient cells from skin and blood into heart cells that beat, just like the ones in your heart.

Then, we can then grow them to make whole heart tissue.

Co-director Associate Professor Enzo Porrello explaining how stem cell medicine can be used to treat childhood heart disease.

Childhood heart defects

The team at the Royal Children's Hospital are world experts in treating and surgically correcting childhood heart defects.

Regenerating the heart

Co-director Associate Professor Enzo Porrello reviewing current approaches to regenerating the neonatal heart.