About us

Cardiovascular diseases cause an immense health and economic burden worldwide. They remain the leading cause of death in OECD countries.

The GIGA-Cardiovascular Sciences research unit is a multi-disciplinary team comprising expert health care professionals from the University Hospital (CHU Liège) including cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and radiologists, working in close collaboration with biologists, polymer and pharmaceutical chemists, engineers, and biostatisticians to foster innovation for the benefit of the patient. The unit is an active contributor to several European and international research efforts.

Main axes of ongoing research projects include:

- A chemistry-based approach to develop heart valve prostheses with improved hemocompatibility and durability.
- Use of animal models and high throughput sequencing techniques to understand the pathophysiology of heart valve
diseases.
- Creation of prognostic and predictive models helping clinical decision-making to improve outcome of patients with aortic and mitral valve dysfunction undergoing valve replacement or repair.  
- Study of the role of platelet and neutrophil markers in a broad range of life-threatening diseases, including acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and colorectal cancer.
- Use of intravital microscopy and mouse models to assess the mechanisms of inflammation-associated loss of vascular integrity and thrombus formation.
- Study of the genetic, biological and clinical determinants of aortic abdominal aneurysm.
- Analysis of metabolic changes in ischemia/reperfusion-induced acute kidney disease in mice and in patients.
- Evaluation of the nephron-protective impact of mesenchymal stem cells in mouse models of renal ischemia/reperfusion.