10/06/2026
Congratulations to Jah-Vanah Francis and Shaina Garcia on presenting at the 2026 SURCA (Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities) Symposium! ๐
Their project, "Investigating the Effects of Aged Liver Secreted Factors on Healthy Heart Muscle Cells," explores how aging organs affect each other. They built 3D heart tissue from stem cells and exposed young and aged tissue to factors released by young and aged liver cells. Aged heart tissue showed the strongest cell-aging response to aged liver factors, which suggests the liver may play a role in how the heart ages.
Thank you to their faculty mentor, Dr. Aylin Acun, and to SURCA for supporting this work.