RESEARCH

Our lab focuses on how the immune system contributes to normal heart function and how it modulates the healing response in the heart following infection or injury, such as a heart attack. It’s an important area of research, because more people are developing heart failure, due to an increased rate of survival of heart attacks and other heart conditions.

It’s estimated that about 600,000 Canadians are living with heart failure, a serious condition that erodes quality of life due to symptoms like shortness of breath, swelling, fatigue and weakness and a rapid or irregular heartbeat. People who survive heart attacks often go into heart failure, partly due to scarring in the heart. Our research is looking at how the immune system dictates how the heart heals or scars and examines the possibilities of altering the immune system to delay heart failure. Our work in this area, is trying to understand exactly how the cells work to heal the heart tissue.

We are also working on a project looking at how biomaterials, cellular matrixes which have been found to promote healing in the heart, can be used to enhance outcomes for cardiovascular patients. Libin researchers have learned that the biomaterials, which have been used after heart surgery, attract immune cells which cause the heart to scar less and maintain more function. We are is looking at the mechanisms behind how the biomaterials work.

We have broad ideas of how the biomaterials are benefitting patients, but we want to understand how the immune system contributes to this response. If we understand the mechanisms, we can better tailor these biomaterials for treatment.

The lab studies the immune system in a unique way thanks to an imaging technique, developed by us, that uses special imaging equipment to view the immune system in action. By working with other researchers and clinicians, we can advance research by accessing clinical samples and data.