Keisuke Ishihara receives American Heart Association research funding

Assistant Professor Keisuke Ishihara has received the American Heart Association Career Development Award, a three-year grant that began in April 2025. This grant will support Ishihara's project titled "The physical role of the cardiac jelly in human cardiac organoids."

Career Development Awards recognize highly promising health care and academic professionals in the early years of their first professional appointment to assure the applicant's future success as a research scientist in the field of cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease research.

Ishihara earned a Ph.D. in systems biology from Harvard University and a BS in chemical engineering from Princeton University. His lab develops genetic, chemical and computational approaches to engineer the form and function of human brain organoids and cardiac organoids.

A recent breakthrough in this area of research is the creation of "cardioids," which are tiny, lab-made models of human heart tissue. Cardioids organize into structures resembling heart chambers and can start beating in four days.

Ishihara wants to investigate if these cardioids are mimicking an important part of early heart development called cardiac jelly. This jelly might be key to forming spaces in the cardioids and getting them to beat. Through this project, Ishihara's goal is to learn how cardiac jelly is made in cardioids. He also wants to understand how the properties of this jelly help cardioids beat. This research will uncover key insights about how the human heart takes shape and functions.

About the American Heart Association:

The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. They are dedicated to ensuring equitable health in all communities. Through collaboration with numerous organizations, and powered by millions of volunteers, they fund innovative research, advocate for the public's health and share lifesaving resources. The Dallas-based organization has been a leading source of health information for nearly a century.

For more information, contact Jamie Brian, communications specialist for the Department of Computational and Systems Biology at JLB486@pitt.edu.

More information:
This story is about an award for a research project in progress, so there is no DOI yet.

Provided by University of Pittsburgh Department of Computational and Systems Biology