Support Team VESSEL’s Vascular Graft Research!

Cardiac bypass, a procedure frequently used to treat cardiovascular disease, is best performed with the patient’s own tissue. Unfortunately for many patients, this is not an option, so engineered grafts are used to mimic the patient’s native tissue. Currently, many of the engineered grafts implanted into small diameter blood vessels are prone to mechanical and biochemical problems.

Gemstone’s Team VESSEL seeks to create viable grafts for small blood vessels by biochemically modifying silk fibroin, a promising biomaterial, with proven strength and biocompatibility. We hope to increase both the strength and biocompatibility of vascular grafts through our research.

Currently, we are fundraising through LaunchUMD and would appreciate any donations, no matter how small! Help us reach our goal!

The link to donate is https://www.launch.umd.edu/project/1111