Background

Cardiac bypass, a procedure frequently used to treat cardiovascular disease, is best performed with the patient’s own tissue. Unfortunately for many patients, this is not an option, so engineered grafts are used to mimic the patient’s native tissue. Currently, many of the engineered grafts implanted into small diameter blood vessels are prone to mechanical and biochemical problems. Thus, Team VESSEL seeks to create viable grafts for small blood vessels by biochemically modifying silk fibroin, a promising biomaterial. We hope to increase both the strength and biocompatibility of vascular grafts through our research.

We Need Your Help!

We need funding to purchase materials such as the silkworm cocoons from which we derive the silk, as well as various reagents to develop the silk into the final graft product. Unfortunately, many of these lab materials are very expensive. With your support, we will be able to buy these materials that are essential to the success of our project. Every donation makes a difference and we appreciate your support in advance.

For more information please visit our team website at http://teamvessel.wix.com/teamvessel

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