The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced a new R01 research grant of $2.6 million over five years. The grant was awarded to Dr. Dongfang Wang and the Wang Lab at the University of Kentucky Department of Surgery.
This new R01 grant, awarded to the Wang Lab, is titled “Development of a Percutaneous Double Lumen Cannula-Based Cavopulmonary Assist (CPA) System toward Clinical Application.” In this project, a novel cavopulmonary assist device will be developed to support single ventricle heart defect patients with cavopulmonary failure.
This cavopulmonary assist device is the first of its kind and addresses a critical unmet need in the congenital heart surgery field. This device will bridge cavopulmonary failure patients to heart transplantation, further reconstructive heart surgery, or acute post-operative recovery from Fontan procedure.
Preliminary tests on an early cavopulmonary assist device prototype have yielded promising results. The Wang lab has also received funding in the past for development of a wide range of heart and lung assist devices for the adult and pediatric patient populations.