Alison Deyett receives Vienna BioCenter PhD Award 2024
Every year, the Vienna BioCenter PhD Symposium brings together life scientists from around the world. As part of the symposium, the annual Vienna BioCenter PhD awards recognise the most impactful doctoral theses defended at the Vienna BioCenter over the past year. This year, four students received the award, including Alison Deyett from IMBA.
Alison Deyett, recent PhD graduate from the lab of Sasha Mendjan, co-developed multi-chamber cardioids – the first three-dimensional model of the human heart derived from stem cells, which mirrors the human heart’s intricate structure.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, but only a few new therapies are on the horizon. Similarly, one in every 100 babies born suffers from a congenital heart defect – and therapies are few and far between, as we know little about why they arise. What is missing in understanding both heart disease and cardiac malformations is a model comprising the major regions of the human heart. Alison and the Mendjan group at IMBA developed the first physiological organoid model that includes all the principal developing heart structures and allows researchers to study cardiac disease and development.
In her thesis, Alison used cardioids to unravel how signal propagation is initiated in human development and to further understand congenital heart disease. The newly developed cardioid models were presented in a study published in Cell in November 2024. Alison is now beginning her postdoctoral research in Michael Laflamme's lab in Toronto, Canada, where she will focus on developing cardiac micro-tissues to remuscularize scar tissue formed by heart attacks.
“I’m honored to receive this award — a reward for the many long nights, early mornings, and spirited moments shared in pursuit of knowledge. This project challenged and inspired me, and I’m deeply grateful to the VBC campus and facilities, my PhD supervisor Sasha, my dedicated mentees, the second heart field team, and so many others who helped bring this work to life. Our progress wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible team science environment and resources at the VBC. It’s true what they say: it takes a village, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of such an exceptional one.”
The other three recipients of the award were Laura Santini from the lab of Martin Leeb at the Max Perutz Labs, Filip Nemcko from the lab of Alexander Stark at the IMP, and Julian Ehrmann, from the lab of Tim Clausen at the IMP.
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