Mahnaz Nazari

2024 Bell Family Pediatric PH Research Scholarship

Sinclair Centre for Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa hospital research institute (OHRI), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario  

Under the supervision of: Dr. Bernard Thébaud

About Mahnaz Nazari

Mahnaz is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, working in Dr. Bernard Thébaud's laboratory. She earned her Bachelor’s in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Alzahra University, Iran, in 2016. During her graduate studies, she conducted cutting-edge research focused on facilitating granulopoiesis in leukemic patients using platelet extracellular vesicles (EVs), which led to her Master’s in Laboratory Hematology and Blood Banking from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2020. With an unwavering commitment to advancing regenerative medicine she joined Dr. Thébaud's laboratory in September 2021 to pursue her PhD. Currently her research is dedicated to developing treatments for extremely premature babies suffering from pulmonary hypertension (PH). Her preliminary studies have shown promising results, demonstrating the therapeutic efficacy of cell-based therapy in a novel neonatal lung injury mouse model. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop a cell-free, off-the-shelf product with the potential for clinical trials, offering new hope to premature infants with PH. 

Project:

Cell-Based Therapies for Pulmonary Hypertension in Premature Infants with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

Extreme prematurity, occurring before 28 weeks of gestation, significantly increases the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a chronic lung disease. Approximately 25-30% of BPD infants develop pulmonary hypertension (PH), doubling their risk of death. My PhD project explores cell-based therapies for BPD-PH using umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived vasculogenic progenitor cells (VPCs), along with their extracellular vesicles (EVs). These experiments, conducted with advanced techniques and animal models, aim to provide critical pre-clinical data for clinical translation. Collaborations with experts and the use of technologies like multiplexed scRNAseq will support a pre-CTA application to Health Canada, paving the way for a Phase I trial to assess the safety and feasibility of these therapies in neonatal PH, ultimately benefiting vulnerable newborns and aligning with PHA Canada’s mission.