April Stempien-Otero MD, FACC

Medicine/Cardiology
Associate Professor

Email: april@uw.edu | Phone: 206.616.9054

We are interested in the role of bone marrow derived cells in cardiac repair and regeneration. Our specific research lies in how bone marrow derived cells direct the accumulation of excess collagen (fibrosis) in the heart and how that process can be reversed to allow optimal endogenous or exogenous cardiac regeneration. Using a human model we are testing the hypothesis that direct injection of these bone marrow derived cells can alter fibrosis and improve blood vessel formation in hearts with end stage ischemic heart disease.