SUMMARY
With focuses on fundamental discovery and translational efforts, the laboratory of Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., has established several technologies that have yielded clinical trials in the regenerative medicine space. Within Mayo Clinic's Van Cleve Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Program, Dr. Behfar and his colleagues are doing research to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools to prevent and cure chronic heart conditions. Through these efforts, the program has established multiple stem cell- and exosome-based therapies extending well beyond the heart to encompass collaborative research in orthopedics, wound healing, pulmonary medicine and neurodegeneration.
Focus areas
- Cell-free technologies
- Developing exosomes that are stable at room temperature for targeted applications, including heart attack; ischemic heart disease and heart failure; cardiac fibrosis; angiogenesis and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia; wound healing; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis and toxic lung injury; radiation exposure; pretransplant organ preservation; transplant rejection; and heart failure diagnostics.
- Cell-based technology
- Cardiopoietic stem cell therapy for cardiac regeneration, including ischemic heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathies and the use of cardiopoiesis to drive induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocyte maturation.
- Tissue engineering
- Modifying Langendorff systems for ex vivo myocardial preservation.
- Establishing tissue organoids for extracorporeal organ preservation.
- HLA modification of ex vivo supported hearts.
- Exosome-induced resilience to ischemia reperfusion injury of hearts prior to transplant.
- Clinical regenerative therapeutics
- Phase 2 trial application of PEP exosomes in wound healing.
- Phase 1 trial application of PEP exosomes in acute myocardial infarction.
- Phase 1 trial application of exosome therapy in degenerative joint disease.
- Innovation in ambulatory vascular access for bridging mechanical circulatory support, including axillary intra-aortic balloon pumps, pulmonary and left atrial venting in the setting of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, percutaneous left ventricular assist device testing for optimized hemodynamic support, and invasive hemodynamics in patients supported with durable left ventricular assist devices.
Significance to patient care
Cardiovascular regeneration work done at Mayo Clinic offers new hope to patients with chronic heart conditions. In these patients, the current standards of care can only make their conditions less severe. These standards don't treat underlying issues. With a track record of translating regenerative therapies from research into clinical application, Dr. Behfar and his colleagues aim to develop technologies that can repair heart tissue, making quality of life much better for patients with heart disease.
Using the know-how established in regenerative medicine, Dr. Behfar and his team are pursuing new avenues to make more hearts available for transplantation. Building on existing efforts in ambulatory mechanical support, Dr. Behfar's team aims to establish new ways to increase the availability and quality of hearts donated after circulatory death and after brain death.
Professional highlights
- Associate program director, Cardiovascular Fellowship Program, Mayo Clinic, 2022-present.
- Russ and Kathy Van Cleve Professor of Regenerative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 2022-present.
- Director, Van Cleve Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Program, Mayo Clinic, 2015-present.
- Co-director for Innovation in Biologics, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 2018-2020.
- Herman K. Gold Young Investigator Award, American College of Cardiology, 2010.
- Foundation fellow, Clinician Investigator Program, General Mills, 2009.
- Presidential Award, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2005.