Dr Johannes Bargehr
- Principal Investigator
- BHF Intermediate Clinical Research Fellowship
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About
Group Leader in Stem Cell Science
Honorary Cardiology Fellow in Heart Failure
Laboratory: Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre
Johannes Bargehr is a Group Leader in Stem Cell Science and holds a BHF Intermediate Clinical Research Fellowship. He also practices as an Honorary Cardiology Fellow in Heart Failure at Royal Papworth and Addenbrooke’s hospitals. He graduated from the University of Innsbruck with a degree in medicine and subsequently completed a PhD degree in the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute with Prof Sanjay Sinha. During his PhD, he spent over a year in the Murry lab at the University of Washington to investigate the regenerative potential of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived epicardial cells in myocardial remuscularisation. Following his PhD, he continued to work as a post-doctoral fellow in the Sinha lab, while completing his cardiology clinical training in Cambridge.
Research
The Bargehr lab uses different immunomodulatory strategies to achieve better grafting efficiency of cardiomyocyte-based cell therapy. This includes the use of broadly immune-evasive hPSC lines that bypass cytotoxic T-cell, NK-cell, antibody-mediated and phagocytic responses, avoiding the need for systemic immunosuppression. Additionally, they are also testing the application of locally drug-eluting microparticles to avoid systemic administration of immunosuppressants. As myocardial infarction generates a hostile environment for cardiomyocyte engraftment, one line of work assesses how the recruitment of regulatory T-cells can result in a favourable modification of the myocardial niche that will allow for greater cardiomyocyte survival.
Finally, they are using 3D-based cardio-immune organoids to model inflammatory cardiomyopathy and investigate opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
