A post-doctoral Arab woman associate in pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner, is working toward engineering 3D vascular grafts for cardiovascular drug screening.
“My research aims to employ human stem cells to ‘engineer’ a 3D vascular graft through tissue engineering, which is an exciting emerging field that combines the use of
biomaterials and cells to restore or repair damaged tissues,” said Dr Isra Marei. “The way we are attempting to do this is by inducing cell self-assembly to form a 3D vascular graft. Once that is done, the graft will be used to test the effects of known cardiovascular drugs to validate the system,” continued Dr Marei, one of the three winners in the Post-Doctorate Researchers category awarded by L’Oréal-Unesco For Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Programme 2020 -- an initiative to empower women participation in scientific research by promoting and encouraging exceptional women scientists at different stages of their careers.
“This massive discrepancy between drugs that pass pre-clinical testing and those that actually make it to the market can be largely attributed to the lack of effective and predictive preclinical models. The available screening systems do not adequately reflect the human cardiovascular physiology,” noted Dr Marei.
There is a serious need for more-predictive 3D human-based models to accelerate the development of potential new drugs. One way to do this, the path Dr Marei has taken, is by making more complex models to mimic the human physiological conditions using human stem cells.
Speaking about how she got into this field, Dr Marei said, “My interest in blood stem cells started during my PhD when I used them to populate an artificial tissue made of a polymeric material to be used as a replacement for damaged heart valves. Their sheer potential coupled with the need for better cardiovascular treatments has only increased my fascination with them over time.”
Dr Marei also holds the position of Honorary Research Fellow, Vascular Biology Section at Imperial College London, working closely in collaboration with Prof Jane Mitchell, head of Cardiovascular Division, National Heart and Lung Institute. She explained that potential drugs are tested on animals or using 2D cultures before moving to clinical trials. The problem is neither of these pre-clinical models adequately mimic the physiological environment of human blood vessels.
Blood vessels are naturally formed of multiple layers of cells, embedded within a gelatinous material. The blood that flows through these vessels results in mechanical forces acting on the vessel wall. None of which is reflected in a 2D culture system that studies the effect of drugs on a single type of cell under isolated conditions.
While animal testing does provide a certain level of complexity, there are species differences, particularly genetic and metabolic which means the results obtained from animal models cannot be fully adapted to humans. According to Dr Marei, the use of 3D culture systems will bridge the gap in the current drug testing methods. These systems are anticipated to mimic the physiological conditions in the body much more closely than currently used 2D systems, therefore allowing for a better understanding of diseases and drugs.
“Because stem cells can be isolated from the patient, they can also be used to develop personalised drug-testing models making them a potential resource for personalised medicine.”
Dr Marei’s first exposure to scientific research was during her undergraduate years, wherein she participated in a project funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). Supported by QNRF’s Qatar Research Leadership Programme, she pursued her postgraduate education at Imperial College London. Her current position is supported by QNRF’s Postdoctoral Research Award.
“My research aims to employ human stem cells to ‘engineer’ a 3D vascular graft through tissue engineering, which is an exciting emerging field that combines the use of
| International Day of Women and Girls in Science is marked Thursday, Feb.11 |
“This massive discrepancy between drugs that pass pre-clinical testing and those that actually make it to the market can be largely attributed to the lack of effective and predictive preclinical models. The available screening systems do not adequately reflect the human cardiovascular physiology,” noted Dr Marei.
There is a serious need for more-predictive 3D human-based models to accelerate the development of potential new drugs. One way to do this, the path Dr Marei has taken, is by making more complex models to mimic the human physiological conditions using human stem cells.
Speaking about how she got into this field, Dr Marei said, “My interest in blood stem cells started during my PhD when I used them to populate an artificial tissue made of a polymeric material to be used as a replacement for damaged heart valves. Their sheer potential coupled with the need for better cardiovascular treatments has only increased my fascination with them over time.”
Dr Marei also holds the position of Honorary Research Fellow, Vascular Biology Section at Imperial College London, working closely in collaboration with Prof Jane Mitchell, head of Cardiovascular Division, National Heart and Lung Institute. She explained that potential drugs are tested on animals or using 2D cultures before moving to clinical trials. The problem is neither of these pre-clinical models adequately mimic the physiological environment of human blood vessels.
Blood vessels are naturally formed of multiple layers of cells, embedded within a gelatinous material. The blood that flows through these vessels results in mechanical forces acting on the vessel wall. None of which is reflected in a 2D culture system that studies the effect of drugs on a single type of cell under isolated conditions.
While animal testing does provide a certain level of complexity, there are species differences, particularly genetic and metabolic which means the results obtained from animal models cannot be fully adapted to humans. According to Dr Marei, the use of 3D culture systems will bridge the gap in the current drug testing methods. These systems are anticipated to mimic the physiological conditions in the body much more closely than currently used 2D systems, therefore allowing for a better understanding of diseases and drugs.
“Because stem cells can be isolated from the patient, they can also be used to develop personalised drug-testing models making them a potential resource for personalised medicine.”
Dr Marei’s first exposure to scientific research was during her undergraduate years, wherein she participated in a project funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). Supported by QNRF’s Qatar Research Leadership Programme, she pursued her postgraduate education at Imperial College London. Her current position is supported by QNRF’s Postdoctoral Research Award.
