Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Cardiovascular diseases such as coronary artery occlusion is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. For patients with severe coronary artery disease, there are three treatment options: (i) coronary artery bypass grafting, (ii) catheter based interventions such as coronary angioplasty and stenting, and (iii) therapeutic angiogenesis. Each of these options has its own drawback impeding the full clinical potential. The success of surgical bypass grafting is limited by the lack of an engineered biological tissue substitute whereas coronary angioplasty and stenting is limited by the undesired and uncontrolled proliferation of smooth muscle cells that eventually re-occlude the artery. Therapeutic angiogenesis requires controlled delivery of growth factors into the desired site and thus has not been possible as yet. Over the next 5 years, my research program will focus on developing novel enabling technologies to address the above-listed limitations by 1) enhancing oxygen delivery to accelerate tissue engineered vascular grafts, 2) functional immobilization of Jagged1 protein to stent-mimic surfaces, and 3) designing biodegradable amino acid derived fibrous matrix for delivery of angiogenic factors. The proposed research builds on the strengths of past interdisciplinary research efforts undertaken by the applicant and his collaborators bridging chemical engineering, materials science, and cellular and molecular biology. The motivation of the proposed research program is to obtain the understanding required to develop the next generation of technologies for applications in future vascular disease interventions and garner fundamental expertise in this area. The key objective is to train well-rounded graduates with sound technical, scientific, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills groomed by integrated interdisciplinary comprehensive research training program. Overall, the program will provide training for 3 PhD, 2 MESc and number of undergraduate students by exposing them to cutting-edge research. This research is expected to result in significant technology development for applications in future human health and economic benefit to Canada.