Dr. Magda Horackova is one of many unsung heroes in the field of medical science.
Researchers at Dalhousie Medical School are world leaders in the quest to develop therapies with the potential to repair damage caused by heart attacks, reverse the symptoms of heart failure and prolong the lives of people with heart disease. Cardiac researcher Dr. Magda Horackova, a professor at Dalhousie Medical School, is investigating an innovative transplantation procedure that uses a patient's own skeletal muscle cells (myoblasts) to repair heart attack damage and prevent heart failure.
Dr. Horackova is working with cardiologist Dr. Robert Chen and cardiac surgeon Dr. Stacy O'Blenes, to fine tune this transplant procedure. "In our studies we have found that giving the transplants within 10 days of the heart attack - before scar tissue has formed - is critical," she says. "At this stage, the transplanted cells migrate to the damaged area of the heart muscle and start dividing very quickly. They replace the damaged heart cells, which simply disintegrate instead of forming scars. This is important, because post heart-attack scarring can lead to dangerous arrhythmias and reduced heart function." Dr. Horackova and her colleagues are now monitoring the long-term results of such transplants.
Dr. Horackova is especially excited about the Core Facility for Experimental Heart Disease. "A brand new research facility will house sophisticated echocardiographic equipment required to test our theories in pre-clinical models," says Dr. Horackova. "Our work matters most when it can be translated into improved treatment and better patient care and this facility will help move our work, and that of several other cardiovascular research groups forward, from bend to bedside, as it were."