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Current Projects
1. Controlled Clinical Trial of the use of Autologous Bone Marrow Derived Progenitor Cells to Salvage Myocardium in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction
Research Applicants:
Professor John Martin
Department of Medicine,
University College London
Dr Anthony Mathur
William Harvey Research Institute,
Queen Margaret University of London
Grant: 1.2 million pounds
Summary:
This study investigates for the first time whether damage to the heart muscle caused by heart attack can be prevented by injecting stem cells taken from heart attack patients’ own bone marrow into their hearts within a critical five hours of the attack.
It is the first known project of its type in the UK to combine stem cell delivery to the heart with primary angioplasty – where the blocked arteries in heart attack patients are opened as quickly as possible.
The project addresses the UK’s biggest killer and hopes to ascertain whether stem cells administered immediately after suffering a heart attack can speed up recovery, reduce the likelihood of suffering repeat attack and reduce fatalities from later onset heart failure.
Heart attack patients brought to the London Chest Hospital (Barts and the London NHS Trust) and the Heart Hospital (University College London Hospitals Trust) for direct coronary intervention will be recruited for the study which is due to commence in spring 2007.