TECAS · Towards Tissue Engineering Solutions for Cardiovascular Surgery

The aim of the TECAS ITN is to integrate the major European contributors in the field of cardiovascular tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medicine (RM), to generate a coherent framework of expertise which will facilitate the training and career development of early stage researchers (ESRs) in the field. In particular, the intention of this ITN is to focus on the clinical needs of cardiac valve replacement/repair, myocardium reconstruction and patch graft angioplasty of the great blood vessels, with a view to developing the underpinning expertise and technology that will be required to manufacture functional TE cardiovascular implants for clinical use in the near future. The TECAS ITN supports and transfers novel crossdisciplinary and intersectorial training to junior researchers, which is critical to the long-term sustainability of the cardiovascular implant research and industry in Europe, enhancing its competitiveness against the North American sector. The goal of this ITN is to consolidate the extensive multidisciplinary experience in training and research of its academic, clinical and industrial Partners to train the new generation of competent and balanced clinicians, scientists, and engineers, who currently are in great demand by the medical devices industry and clinical sector. This goal will be facilitated through the research projects of the Network which span over the intersectorial innovation pipeline of a number of TE products and technologies from basic science to translational research and beyond. The strategy of the TECAS ITN involves the use of functionalised 3D scaffolds, which have been seeded with either differentiated stromal cells or adult mesenchymal stem cells derived from the intended recipient, and either physically conditioned in the laboratory in bioreactors, with a view to producing biological and biomechanical functionality of the graft prior to implantation, or used unseeded with a view to attracting endogenous cell colonisation after implantation.