Prof. Dr. Dr. Simon Philipp Hoerstrup

Dr. Hoerstrup obtained his medical (M.D.) and scientific (Ph.D.) education at Universities in Germany (Cologne), Switzerland (Bern), and the USA (Houston, Baylor College of Medicine and Boston, Harvard Medical School).

After his clinical training in Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich, he was post-doc research fellow at Children’s Hospital and Massa-chusetts General Hospital, both Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (1998-2000). In 2001, Dr. Hoerstrup obtained the Venia legendi in Cardiac Surgery at the University of Zürich. Since 2003, he is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University Eindhoven (The Netherlands), and since 2008 Professor of Experimental Surgery at the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich.

Currently, Dr. Hoerstrup is Head of the Regenerative Medicine Program and Scientific Director at the Department of Surgery, both University Hospital and University of Zurich.

Presentation

From cells to functional cardiovascular implants

Cell-based therapy concepts comprising regeneration of damaged organs by e.g. transplanted stem cells and replacement of diseased/malformed structures by tissue engineered, living implants represent promising novel treatment modalities, ultimately aiming at “restitutio ad integrum” instead of repair.

First successful clinical applications such as stem cell therapies of myocardial infarction and tissue engineering of autolgous trachea have recently been demonstrated. Various cell sources including several categories of stem cells are being examined for cardiovascular applications. The laboratory has been focusing on using marrow stromal derived stem cells (MSCs) as a versatile autologous cell source for tissue engineering of living cardiovascular structures such as arteries and heart valves.

Beyond the “classical” in vitro tissue engineering approach, in vivo technologies using the cell attraction and remodelling potential of MSCs are currently investigated. For myocardial repair, the optimal cell delivery format using 3-D microtissue technologie and the most suitable route for cell delivery (intracoronary vs. intramyocardial) after myocardial infarction are under investigation.