THE RESEARCH CHALLENGE

CHALLENGES OF HEART TRANSPLANTS


Heart transplants are often the only treatment option for patients undergoing end-stage heart failure. 

Despite the first heart transplant being performed over 50 years ago, there are still many challenges in this area. 
A shortage of donor organs represents one of the main pre-transplant issues, and rejection is one of the main post-transplant issues. In order to manage manage rejection, patients must rely on immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, too low a dose may result in rejection, while too high a dose can lead to infection, chronic kidney disease and other malignancies. 

There are still many challenges when choosing the best drug regimen for patients after a heart transplant since there is not a one-size fits all approach.

SANTORINI SCIENTIFIC'S RESEARCH

At Santorini Scientific, our mission is to drive and implement medical advances which will allow heart transplant patients to live their lives to the fullest.

We do this by advancing and implementing research in the field of: 
• 3D bioprinting cardiac tissue
• Regulatory T-cell therapy 
• Early detection and modelling of post-transplant rejection

Our research strives to reduce rejection whilst minimising the need for immunosuppressant drugs. This will reduce the patient’s pharmaceutical drug load and will allow heart transplant recipients to live their lives to the fullest, for longer. 

To advance the field, we work in collaboration with Universities, Hospitals and commercial partners across the UK. We’re furthering developments in fields such as AI, big data, cellular biology, tissue engineering and precision medicine to help achieve our goal of allowing heart transplant patients to live their lives to the fullest.

Read our mini case study to find out about our AI and Rejection Project, and the importance of AI and Big Data in the drive towards personalised medicine. 

Visit our partners page, and read our recent blogs on precision medicine and biomarkers, and on the history of heart transplants to find out more. 

We are an ethical, mission-driven company, concentrating on the hugely important field of heart transplants, with cardiovascular disease being the world’s leading cause of death.  

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