To be able to create strategies that are designed to improve cardiovascular regenerative medicine, it’s important to first understand the fundamentals of the cellular mechanisms involved in tissue development, regeneration, and repair. One Clemson University professor at the forefront of this research is Dr. Agneta Simionescu. Simionescu received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Biochemistry from the Romanian Academy of Science, Bucharest in 2001 and is currently an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Clemson University.
Prior to coming to Clemson, Dr. Simionescu spent years working as a research scientist in Targu Mures, Romania. She worked under distinguished cardiovascular surgeon, Professor Radu Deac, and collaborated with other scientists and surgeons at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and Transplantation and at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The majority of her research concentrated on the pathology of human heart valves, dilated cardiomyopathy, and cardiac transplantation immunology.
At Clemson, Simionescu leads the Tissue Engineering Lab as a Principal Investigator, with the goal to improve tissue engineered blood vessels, mitral valves, and cardiac muscles resistant to the health complications induced by severe diabetic and hypertensive conditions. Her primary research interests involve regeneration of vascular structures and healing of injured cardiac muscle. A top priority of her lab is developing research that is able to translate tissue-engineering solutions from the lab to the patients. Through their efforts, Simionescu’s team has been able to significantly contribute to the regeneration of cardiovascular structures.
In addition to her research, Simionescu is an active member of the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), as well as the American Heart Association (AHA), and is an Executive Board Member of the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology (ISACB). She holds three patents for her research and has received a number of federal and private grants to help fund her research projects.
To learn more about Agneta Simionescu, click here.
