[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research enterprise in the U.S., with nearly $1.3 billion in research operations in 2023. The Mass General Research Institute comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments.

But what do each of these groups do? Learn more about the individual labs and centers in our #ThroughTheMagnifyingGlass series, where we take a closer look at the teams that make up the Mass General Research Institute. 

In this post, we are highlighting the Perfusion Lab run by Shannon Tessier, PhD, Asishana Osho, MD, MPH, and Ali Rabi, MD, PhD! 

The lab is a collaboration across the three Principal Investigators within the Department of Surgery that share one common goal: making more hearts available for transplantation. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1674242534039{padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1664484221430{border-radius: 2px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”What research do you perform, and why is it unique?” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:35|text_align:left|color:%231e73be” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%20Slab%3A100%2C300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:300%20light%20regular%3A300%3Anormal”][vc_column_text css=””]

In nature, suspended animation, or the ability of an organism to slow or stop biological processes while preserving physiological capabilities, has been witnessed in seven different orders of mammals. However, because it is naturally occurring in these seven mammals, it suggests the underlying machinery responsible for this phenomenon may be present in all mammals, including humans.

Having the ability to slow biological time would be greatly beneficial to human health. It could help increase the shelf life of organs for transplantation and aid in the treatment of cardiac arrest, heart attack or stroke. It could also enable the easier delivery of aid in mass casualty situations resulting from natural disasters or war and enable long-term space travel among other things.

At the Perfusion Lab, our goal is to effectively translate these positive survival strategies to organisms without this natural capacity, such as humans. To do this, we take an interdisciplinary approach, applying techniques and tools from a variety of areas such as molecular and cell biology, as well as tissue and bioengineering.

More specifically, we use perfusion, which is providing a continuous flow of blood to the heart or other organs outside the body to maintain their viability for transplant.

So far, our team has engineered improved ex vivo machine perfusion systems for hearts; identified new methods to assess heart function prior to transplant; tested the limits of ex vivo survival with lessons from suspended animation; identified molecular changes during perfusion and used synthetic biology to recover damaged hearts.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner]

[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle” fadeout_row=”fadeout_row_value” gap=”35″ css=”.vc_custom_1705542977435{padding-top: -20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1705543028139{padding-top: 80px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”Meet the Team” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:80|text_align:right|color:%231e73be|line_height:1.2″ google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%20Slab%3A100%2C300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:300%20light%20regular%3A300%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1705542886749{padding-right: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 50px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”24918″ img_size=”333×500″ alignment=”center” css=”” hover_effect=”img_hover_title” title=”Asishana Osho, MD, MPH, Shannon Tessier, PhD, and Ali Rabi, MD, PhD”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1705542998203{padding-top: -20px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”24861″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=”” hover_effect=”img_hover_title” title=”Lab team members while they wait for the heart to reanimate, which takes hours.”][vc_single_image image=”24866″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=”” hover_effect=”img_hover_title” title=”The members of the Perfusion Lab.”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1664484221430{border-radius: 2px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=””]Our program combines the efforts of three principal investigators at Mass General with complementary expertise.  

Shannon Tessier, PhD, is a molecular biologist and biopreservation expert who leverages lessons from nature to induce suspended animation-like state in human tissues, with a particular focus on hearts for transplantation.  

Asishana Osho, MD, MPH, is a thoracic surgeon who specializes in outcomes and health services research for cardiac surgery patients.  

Ali Rabi, MD, PHD is also a thoracic surgeon, specializes in ex vivo machine perfusion and assessment of hearts and lungs for transplantation.  

Our team started brainstorming this vision for a specialized heart recovery and preservation program to make more hearts available for transplantation only two years ago. Since then, the team has consisted of a large group of trainees including residents, fellows, graduates and undergraduates.  

Also critical to the team are our industry collaborators. Each experiment performed in the lab requires the coordination of three to six individuals, and often more, and can lead to long and arduous hours/days in the lab. As a result, the team relies on each other and needs to come together to achieve success. While the collaborative nature of the work can be challenging, the beauty of this approach are shared successes that are greater than the sum of their parts.  [/vc_column_text]

[vc_custom_heading text=”What publication is really important to your ongoing research?” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:35|text_align:left|color:%231e73be” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%20Slab%3A100%2C300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:300%20light%20regular%3A300%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1705542811396{padding-top: 50px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1723566528110{padding-top: -50px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1664484221430{border-radius: 2px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=””]The major projects we are working on are engineering improved ex vivo machine perfusion systems for hearts; identifying new methods to assess heart function prior to transplant; testing the limits of ex vivo survival with lessons from suspended animation; identifying molecular changes during perfusion and using synthetic biology to recover damaged hearts.  

Since our work only started about two years ago, we have yet to publish our complete findings, but we do have a significant study that was just accepted for publication, so stay tuned for more on that in the coming months!  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”24860″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=”” hover_effect=”img_hover_title” title=”Lab members run tests on the heart while it reanimates.”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1664484221430{border-radius: 2px !important;}”]

[vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_custom_heading text=”How does your research apply to everyday people’s lives?” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:35|text_align:left|color:%231e73be” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%20Slab%3A100%2C300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:300%20light%20regular%3A300%3Anormal”][vc_column_text css=””]Heart failure is a global pandemic affecting more than 64.3 million people, including 6.7 million Americans.  

Heart transplantation remains the only life-saving treatment for end-stage heart failure, yet only 28% of the patients on the transplant waiting list are fortunate to receive this surgery.  Our goal is to overcome this critical shortage in the availability of transplantable hearts so more patients can receive this lifesaving treatment.  [/vc_column_text]

[/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1698091981768{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”What is something you wish everyone knew about the research you perform?” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%231e73be|line_height:1.3″ google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%20Slab%3A100%2C300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:300%20light%20regular%3A300%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1681146448187{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text css=””]Behind every achievement is a huge community of individuals who are deeply committed and joined by a common goal of making more hearts available for transplantation. Each and every member of the team has been invaluable to our mission, and we are forever grateful to them all for their hard work.  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]

To learn more about the Perfusion Lab, check out this website.

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