Sophie McManus

Sophie's PhD focused on investigating functional regulation in the
human embryonic epicardium, and this was funded by the British Heart
Foundation. The epicardium is a transcriptionally heterogeneous and highly
active lineage during cardiovascular development. It gives rise to cardiac
fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells, and stimulates proliferation and
maturation of developing myocardium. During adulthood, the epicardium is
quiescent; following cardiac injury, there is transient epicardial
reactivation. In some organisms, such as the neonatal mouse and adult
zebrafish, epicardial reactivation is beneficial and enables a regenerative
response to repair cardiac injury. However, humans lack both this beneficial
epicardial reactivation and the capacity to regenerate injured heart
post-myocardial infaction. Hence there is sustained research interest in
understanding epicardial function with the aim of manipulating this in a
therapeutic context. Sophie's PhD work, carried out in conjunction with Dr
Laure Gambardella, used a human epicardium stem cell model and primary
epicardial tissues to characterise epicardial signalling during development, in
particular, investigating potential roles of the transcription factor BNC1. Sophie
now works in London in life science consulting.