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Caroline Erter Burns is an Associate Professor in Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, with a research focus on cardiac regeneration. Her work is centered around understanding the mechanisms by which cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) can be activated to regenerate heart muscle after ischemic injury. Recent findings suggest that mammalian hearts may possess the ability to regenerate myocardial tissue through the activation of endogenous CPCs, similar to the regeneration observed in adult zebrafish. Her long-term research goal is to leverage the regenerative properties of zebrafish and characterize CPC properties in vivo, which could lead to novel therapeutic interventions for heart disease. She aims to identify the critical molecular programs that drive myocardial regeneration and enhance the activity of CPCs for potential clinical applications. Her lab works on developmental genetics and stem cell biology, examining the fate determination of stem cells in both zebrafish and humans. The insights gained from her research have profound implications for regenerative medicine, with the potential to inform new strategies for repairing damaged myocardium in humans.
Administered by the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).