Using zebrafish as a model to tackle calcific valve disease

Renee Chow, PhD
Group Leader
Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute
Victorian Heart Institute
Monash University

This conference is hosted by Michelle Cayouette, PhD.

In person: 
André-Barbeau Room
110, avenue des Pins O, H2W 1R7 Montreal

About this conference
Calcific valve disease (CVD) is the most common type of valve disease worldwide. CVD involves the aberrant reactivation of developmental pathways in response to abnormal blood flow patterns, and there is a strong clinical incentive to better understand how blood flow-derived mechanical forces regulate valve development. Using the zebrafish as a model, we combine genetics, novel in vivo force manipulation methods, and advanced imaging to study the role of mechanical forces in heart valve development. My talk will cover our recent discovery of a new morphological step in zebrafish heart valve formation, our results demonstrating the importance of mechanical forces in its regulation, and our working model of the mechanotransduction pathways involved. I will also discuss our plans to use the zebrafish model to study heart valve mechanobiology in disease and regeneration contexts. 

About Renee Chow
Dr. Renee Chow completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, where she studied retinal development under the supervision of Prof. Bill Harris. She then joined the lab of Dr. Julien Vermot in Strasbourg, where she received a fellowship from the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation and researched the role of mechanical forces in heart development. In 2023, she started her own lab at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University, in Melbourne. Her lab uses the zebrafish model to understand heart valve mechanobiology and to develop treatments for heart valve disease.

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