| Meet the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Amish Raval Professor of Medicine |
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Research area Evaluating novel cardiovascular regenerative medicine therapies. The research group uses stem cells, gene transfer agents and extracellular matrices to develop improved biologic delivery methods and durable treatments for patients with advanced heart disease. The team is currently developing innovative treatments that utilize stem cells and unique biomaterials that can be delivered minimally invasively using catheters to patients with advanced ischemic and structural heart disease. The laboratory has expertise in therapeutic cell characterization, transcatheter delivery and interventional imaging, cardiac biomaterials, small/large animal cardiovascular disease models, federal regulatory requirements for biologics therapies and the design and execution of Phase I, II and III clinical trials.
What excites you about your work?
“I’ve been a cardiologist for 24 years and done clinical trials and research for over 20 years. In that time, areas of technology have emerged—medication, pharmaceuticals, biologics, devices and novel therapies, but nothing has yet been invented, created or approved to repair the failing heart. My real interest is finding therapies that will fundamentally alter injury in a favorable way at the tissue level and restore lost heart function, to reverse or prevent damage to the heart. What excites me is being able to interact with interesting people, innovate and speak to others, while I work on projects that are directed toward rescuing and remuscularizing and revascularizing the heart, without having to do a full-blown heart transplant.”
What do you hope to achieve?
“I hope to further the field of cardiovascular regenerative medicine, using my expertise to deliver cells, in a seamless way that patients can tolerate, is cost effective and is easy to perform, to improve outcomes for heart patients. Even if it doesn’t happen in my lifetime, I want to contribute to the field and move the needle forward. It’s like a big puzzle, and everyone has their areas of expertise. Mine is, we have the cells, now how do we integrate them into the heart minimally or non-invasively, without interrupting a patient’s life too much?”
Dr. Raval is an innovative and important researcher in his field. His contributions have already advanced the state of cardiovascular repair and treatment and his inventions are nearing first-in-human clinical trials.
– Andy DeTienne, WARF, Director of Licensing
Want to learn more?
Andy DeTienne, [email protected], 608.960.9857