Acute Cardiac Injury and Repair

Team

Univ.-Prof. Dr. med.
Matthias Totzeck

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PD Dr.
Raluca Mincu, PhD

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Dr. med.
Elias Haj-Yehia

Dr. rer. nat.
Sebastian Korste

Doktoranden:

Nadine Saur, Merve Akdeniz, Emel Temiz, Nadia Hegner, Phan Phuong-Thy Nguyen, Habyna Ravi, Adelina Mark, Nadja Müller, Josefine Niroomand, Lea Rogge-Herper, Armin Spomer, Philip Schulte

Topics

We seek to understand the biological mechanisms behind acute cardiac damage

in both basic and clinical science. Our group led by Prof. Dr.  Matthias Totzeck investigates pathological pathways associated with cardiac damage, which originates from e.g. acute myocardial infarction, valvular heart disease or in the course of cancer therapy. We aim to develop novel therapies for patient treatment.

We use state-of-the-art technology and ground-breaking methodology in our day-to-day practice to drive innovative research for treatments of acute cardiac damage.

Clinical projects

Characterization of the cardiovascular adverse events of antitumor therapies

We evaluate cardiovascular adverse events of different therapeutic cancer strategies, including classical chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immune therapy, hormonal therapy, and irradiation. All patients evaluated in our Cardio-oncology Unit are included in the local eCOR Registry and in the nationwide COIN-DE database to characterise the cardiovascular dysfunction from cancer therapy, and to assess the efficacy of new biomarkers, electrocardiography scores, and advanced cardiac imaging techniques to early detect and predict cardiotoxicity.

Management of cardiovascular disease in tumor patients

The optimal medical and interventional treatment of patients with cancer and acute or chronical cardiac disease has not been extensively studied. We evaluate strategies for the management of coronary heart disease, myocardial disease, valvular heart disease, arrhythmias and advanced heart failure in patients with active cancer disease or in cancer survivors.

Development of new cardioprotective strategies

The role of anticoagulant and anti-platelet treatment in the primary prevention of acute coronary syndromes, periphery arterial ischemic events, or venous thromboembolic events has not been established in patients with cancer. The efficacy of renin angiotensin aldosterone system inhibitors or beta-blockers to protect against a  reduction in left ventricular function after anthracyclines or selected targeted therapies need to be further investigated, together with the development of new cardioprotective strategies. We investigate which cancer patients are susceptible to develop immune therapy induced myocarditis.

Basic science projects

Myocardial I/R Injury and repair

We seek to characterize potential mechanisms that can be used to reduce the burden of myocardial I/R which results from myocardial infarction and reperfusion therapy. We aim to optimize the immune response and the removal of dead cells after myocardial infarction which leads to the formation of an adequate remodeling and healing.

4D assessment oft the heart

Traditional histology has been used for decades to study myocardial infarction damage and response. However, the techniques used require a vast amount of manual work and depict only a fraction of the  heart volume. We set out to invent new methodologies for 3D imaging and analysis of the heart after myocardial infarction and contemporaneously measure damage and response.

Cancer therapy-relatedcardiotoxicity

Today, physicians face a growing number of long-term cancer survivors with morbidities resulting from therapy. The underlying mechanisms are still unknown. We mimic cancer treatments used in clinical practice to investigate pathologies of the heart in basic science and develop therapeutic strategies to counteract cardiovascular damage.

Immune cardiology

A myriad of immune cells infiltrate the myocardium after infarction to facilitate debris clearance, wound healing and scar formation. Modulation of this sophisticated orchestra has proved a diffcult task. We investigate the role of neutrophils, which are the first and most abundant immune cells to enter the infarcted heart, during the early and later stages of inflammation and aim to adjust their detrimental impact, while maintaining positive effects.

Basic science methods

Funding

• Otto Hess scholarship 2023 to Philip Schulte
• German Cardiac Society research grant 2022 to Dr. Elias Haj-Yehia
• UMEA Junior clinician scientist grant 2022 to Dr. Elias Haj-Yehia
• German heart foundation grant 2021-2022 to Prof. Dr. Matthias Totzeck in conjunction with Dr. Marcus Anker (Charité Berlin)
• DZHK grant 2019-2020 to Prof. Dr. Matthias Totzeck in conjunction with Prof. Dr. Matthias Gunzer (UDE) and Prof. Dr. Thomas Braun (MPI Bad Nauheim)
• Josepha and Charlotte von Siebold habilitation funding 2019-2020 to Dr. Raluca Ileana Mincu
• Internal research funding for clinicians (IFORES) 2018-2019 to Dr. Lars Michel
• Internal research funding for clinicians (IFORES) 2018-2019 to Dr. Simone Mrotzek
• ESC Research Grant 2016 to Dr. Raluca Ileana Mincu

Cooperations

Publications

Awards