New technologies are enabling new ways to treat heart disease. Gene therapies are one of those and I’m incredibly excited about what this cutting-edge process could mean for those with abnormal heart rhythms, heart failure or genetic heart disease.
Current treatment options for conditions like symptomatic bradycardia or electrical instability following a heart attack rely on electronic cardiac devices. While these devices are effective, they require surgical implantation and come with risks, including complications and the need for repeat surgeries every 8-10 years as batteries deplete. Patients with these conditions can experience symptoms ranging from breathlessness to fainting and are at a high risk of heart failure.
Associate Professor Eddy Kizana and his team are leading the way in developing hardware-free, biological alternatives using advanced gene modification technologies. By employing viral vectors—tiny tools that deliver healthy copies of genes directly to tissues—they aim to correct molecular errors at their source. This revolutionary approach could allow for minimally invasive gene therapy, delivered swiftly and simply into a patient’s heart using keyhole surgery.
Recent publications

Gene therapy in cardiology: is a cure for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy on the horizon?
November 2023

Development of new adeno-associated virus capsid variants for targeted gene delivery to human cardiomyocytes.
August 2023

Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viral Vector-Mediated Gene Transfer of hTBX18 Generates Pacemaker Cells from Ventricular Cardiomyocytes
August 2022

Potential Applications for Targeted Gene Therapy to Protect Against Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity
December 2021

Performance of Cardiotropic rAAV Vectors Is Dependent on Production Method. Viruses
July 2022
Group Members
NAME | ROLE |
Natsuki Sasaki | PhD Student |
Megha Kadian | PhD Student |
Ahmad Hammoud | PhD Student |
Juan Mundisugih | PhD Student |
Noor Ibrahim | MD Student |
Dhanya Ravindran | Postdoc |
Ivy Chiang | Postdoc |
Shinya Tsurusaki | Postdoc |
Renuka Rao | Postdoc |
Alan Marcus | Postdoc/Vet |