Dr Siiri Iismaa

Key Research Areas:

• Cardiac regeneration
• Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection 

Research Overview:

1. Cardiac regeneration

As the body grows and matures, heart muscle cells lose their ability to divide. This limits the ability of the heart muscle to regenerate after a heart attack. We are determining the transcriptomic and epigenomic signatures that underpin postnatal CM development to identify the molecular roadblocks that prevent heart muscle repair. Insights into these processes should be directly applicable to the development of powerful new treatments for heart disease.

2. Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection 

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an epicardial coronary artery dissection (tear) unrelated to atherosclerosis or trauma. It presents predominantly (95%) in women who are not overweight, have few conventional cardiovascular risk factors and it is often associated with pregnancy, and physical or emotional stress. It is the cause of 2-4% of all cases presenting with acute coronary syndrome and accounts for up to 35% of cases of myocardial infarction in women aged <50 yr. The epidemiology, pathogenesis and optimal approaches to diagnosis and management are poorly understood. We are elucidating the genetics and biology of SCAD by 

• whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify variants associated with SCAD
• phenotypic characterisation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC-derived) cells from SCAD patients and controls