The research from University of North Texas experts, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and others, is producing a much deeper understanding of the heart and could contribute to more effective treatments for heart diseases - the leading cause of death in the U.S. for more than 100 years. College of Engineering researchers have been heavily involved in this research and developing novel solutions.

Huaxiao "Adam" Yang, an associate professor in Biomedical Engineering Department is leading efforts to create organ-like structures known as organoids. These organoids mimic the human heart at a cellular level, offering more accurate models for drug testing and disease modeling. His Ph.D. student Joel Aboagye utilizes human-induced pluripotent stem cells to grow cardiomyocytes - muscle cells in the heart.

Fateme Esmailie, another biomedical engineering faculty, uses AI and machine learning to study adverse heart complications after surgery, specifically what conditions lead to blood clots following a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Her student is creating the silicone-based 3D heart models that will be used in the experiments.

Hamid Sadat, Associate Professor from the Mechanical Engineering Department, has studied with collaborators a condition in which calcium deposits build up on the aortic valve causing it to thicken and become stiffer. His team has developed a computer model and numerical technique to better simulate blood flow in the heart.

Read more to learn details about all of UNT's heart disease treatment research.