Researchers from the United States and Australia have joined forces to tackle childhood heart disease. This new global research initiative includes the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne and the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. Their goal is to identify the genetic causes of heart disease in infants and develop new treatments using stem cells and artificial intelligence (AI).
Professor Enzo Porrello, director of Stem Cell Medicine at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, explained that this approach will help pinpoint the underlying causes of childhood heart disease. “We can intervene early with targeted treatments to prevent heart failure and reduce the need for transplants,” he said in a recent interview.
The researchers are creating miniature beating heart tissues from stem cells. This will help them understand the causes of childhood heart disease and develop effective treatments. Porrello emphasized the significant role AI will play in their research.
“With AI, we can generate large amounts of data about how the heart responds to different genetic causes of disease,” he noted. “This allows us to predict how an individual’s heart might respond to specific drugs or treatments, tailoring the right drug to the right patient.”
The combination of stem cell expertise from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and AI knowledge from Gladstone Institutes is paving the way for advancements in pediatric medicine.
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