One in 12 adults in Canada lives with heart disease. Heart attacks damage the heart muscle and lead to scar tissue, which can cause a loss of pump function and an increased risk of heart failure. We’ve developed heart cells from stem cells, which can be used to replace scar tissue in the heart. This treatment could restore heart muscle function – and reverse heart failure.

Failure of the heart’s pacemaker tissues can lead to an irregular or slow heartbeat. The only treatment for this condition is an implanted electronic pacemaker device. These devices have limited battery life and must be replaced every five to 15 years, which requires invasive surgery. We’ve developed ways to create functional pacemaker cells from stem cells. These pacemaker cells could one day be used to build biological pacemakers that eliminate the need for replacement surgeries.

More than 300,000 Canadians live with Type 1 diabetes, a disease in which the pancreas makes very little to no insulin. Insulin injection is used to treat this disease, but it isn’t perfect. Fluctuating daily blood sugar levels can lead to long-term health complications. We’re working to develop insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Implanting these cells into patients with Type 1 diabetes could improve their quality of life – eliminating the need for insulin injections and blood sugar monitoring.

More than three million Canadians live with chronic liver disease. Requests for liver transplants far exceed the number of available livers, leaving patients with few treatment options. We’re working to overcome this challenge by developing liver cells derived from pluripotent stem cells. These cells could be transplanted into patients with chronic liver disease to regenerate and repair damaged and diseased livers – eliminating the need for a transplant and enabling us to treat more patients.

Leukemia and other diseases of the blood-forming system can disrupt the production of different types of blood cells and lead to life-threatening conditions. Following treatment for leukemia, patients require a bone-marrow transplant, but it can be challenging to find a donor. We’re pursuing new strategies to generate blood-forming stem cells in the lab from human pluripotent stem cells. In the future, these cells could be used to restore normal blood cell production without a bone marrow transplant in patients treated for leukemia.