Session Details

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, and there is an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches. Several exciting gene- and cell-based therapies are currently under development, but progress has been hindered by a number of practical, scientific and translational challenges. This session will highlight the key remaining hurdles in the field and will consider four examples of emerging technologies that hold promise to overcome them: 1) ex vivo gene therapy approaches to enhance the function of transplanted hearts; 2) application of machine learning algorithms and related tools to improve the specificity of cardiac gene therapies; 3) CAR-T cell therapy for attenuating cardiac fibrosis; and 4) combined delivery of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and vascular elements to enable the regeneration of injured hearts.