Tackling genetic heart disease at the root
Eirini Kyriakopoulou successfully defended her PhD thesis. The dissertation, titled ‘From mechanism to therapy: understanding and targeting genetic cardiomyopathy’, details her work in the Van Rooij group (Hubrecht Institute).
Here, she studied the genetic heart disease arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), in which heart muscle cells are unable to properly work together, leading to aberrant heart rhythms. Eirini gained new insights into the disease mechanism and explored whether gene therapy can target the disease at the root. Her work has led to clinical trials, which are currently testing whether gene therapy might benefit ACM patients in the future.
About Regenerative Medicine Utrecht
Regenerative Medicine Utrecht(RMU) is a world-renowned collaboration of excellent knowledge institutes and start-ups, located at the Utrecht Science Park. We bring together researchers from UMC Utrecht, Utrecht University (UU) and the Hubrecht Institute. Our focus is on restoring health and vitality instead of symptom control. By repairing, replacing, or regenerating cells, tissues, and organs, we aim to cure patients.