Researcher Seeks to Turn Stem Cells into Blood Vessels

Office of News and Information - Johns Hopkins University - 901 South Bond Street, Suite 540 - Baltimore, Maryland 21231 - Phone: 443-287-9960 | Fax: 443-287-9920 A Johns Hopkins engineer is trying to coax human stem cells to turn into networks of new blood vessels that could someday be used to replace damaged tissue in people with heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses. Sharon Gerecht, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is working on ways to coax human stem cells to turn into networks of new blood vessels. Photo by Will Kirk Sharon Gerecht , an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the university's Whiting School of Engineering, recently received a $150,000 two-year grant from the March of Dimes Foundation to support this research; earlier, she received a $310,000 four-year award from the American Heart Association to advance this promising line of study. Gerecht is using the funds to answer important questions about what happens at the molecular level when stem cells differentiate: Which environmental cues cause them to form blood vessels instead of other types of body tissue? Is it a lack of oxygen? Is it the nutrients on which the cells feed? Is it the texture and composition of the material on which the cells are situated? And which type of stem cells is best-suited to the assembly of replacement blood vessels? Solving these puzzles, Gerecht said, should help her and other researchers to more effectively harness the power of stem cells for human health remedies.