The Woo Lab uses techniques encompassing molecular and cellular biology, tissue and biomaterials engineering, and mechanical engineering to develop novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of heart failure, and to design and optimize surgical operations for patients with structural heart disease. Our laboratory is uniquely positioned to execute benchtop to bedside translation: starting with basic science and engineering research aimed at developing innovative therapies, medical devices, and surgical techniques in the in vitro or ex vivo setting, we then validate our results using in vivo models, including both small animals (mice, rats, rabbits) and large animals (sheep and pigs). Ultimately, we translate these advances to human clinical trials and cardiac surgery patients.
Our lab encompasses the following major areas: angiogenesis, myocardial regeneration, biomaterials engineering, tissue engineering, photosynthetic symbiotic therapeutics, cardiac biomechanics, and preclinical translation.
Two-pronged strategy for developing a translatable molecular therapy for ischemic heart disease, driven by parallel experiments to understand cytokine biology and therapeutic delivery, with preclinical evaluation in large animal models and eventual human clinical trials.
Continuous iterative cycle of ex vivo and in vivo biomechanical optimization of cardiac valve repair techniques, with immediate potential for clinical translation to the operating room.