Camila Hochman Mendez, MSc, PhD
Dr. Camila Hochman-Mendez is the Texas Heart Institute’s Assistant Director of Regenerative Medicine Research and Director of the Biorepository and Cell Profiling Lab. Dr. Hochman-Mendez’s research centers on the role of extracellular matrix proteins on cardiac stem cell differentiation, tissue repair, and regeneration. Show full bio
Dr. Hochman-Mendez received her Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Bioengineering from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain, followed by a series of Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in tissue engineering research programs at the Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho in Brazil. Prior to joining THI in 2017, Dr. Hochman-Mendez’s research at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, culminated in the first report characterizing the fractal dimension of a biomimetic version of laminin polymers (PolyLM) and several studies on PolyLM’s antifibrotic effects in iPSCs and small preclinical models.
As Director of the THI Biorepository and Cell Profiling Lab, Dr. Hochman-Mendez oversees a College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited biorepository core facility providing storage of critical biospecimens and performing phenotypic and function analyses to clinical investigators in the Texas Medical Center and nationwide. For the past eight years, the THI Biorepository and Cell Profiling Lab have served as a biorepository core facility to the NHLBI Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN) and the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN).
As Assistant Director of the Regenerative Medicine Research department, Dr. Hochman-Mendez’s research program focuses on four areas:
1. Engineering of in vitro and ex vivo cardiovascular tissue models utilizing a combination of cells, biologically active molecules, and innate biological components.
2. Optimization of extracellular matrix-based culture systems for efficient induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) expansion and directed cardiomyocyte differentiation.
3. Development of a closed bioreactor system integrating mechanical and electrical stimulation and automated critical parameter monitoring for recellularizing whole organ scaffolds.
4. Investigations targeting basement membrane proteins and the regulation of their gene expression in cardiovascular development and disease pathogenesis.
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Texas Heart Institute Positions
- Assistant Investigator; Director, THI Biorepository and Cell Profiling Lab
- Assistant Investigator; Assistant Director, Regenerative Medicine Research
Honors, Awards and Memberships
Publications
Chacon-Alberty, L., Fernandez, R., Jindra, P. et al. (2023). Primary graft dysfunction in lung transplantation: a review of mechanisms and future applications. Transplantation. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004503.
Mesquita, F. C. P., Leite, E. S., Morrissey, J. et al. (2022). Polymerized laminin-521: a feasible substrate for expanding induced pluripotent stem cells at a low protein concentration. Cells 11, 3955. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11243955.
Chacon-Alberty, L., Ye, S., Elsenousi, A. et al. (2022). Effect of intraoperative support mode on circulating inflammatory biomarkers after lung transplantation surgery. Artif Organs. https://doi.org/10.1111/aor.14474.
Guan, Y.-S., Ershad, F., Rao, Z. et al. (2022). Elastic electronics based on micromesh-structured rubbery semiconductor films. Nat Electron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00874-z.
Chacon-Alberty, L., Kanchi, R. S., Ye, S. et al. (2022). Plasma protein biomarkers for primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation: a single-center cohort analysis. Sci Rep 12, 16137. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20085-y.
Morrissey, J., Mesquita, F. C. P., Chacon-Alberty, L. et al. (2022). Mining the mesenchymal stromal cell secretome in patients with chronic left ventricular dysfunction. Cells 11, 2092. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11132092.
Chacon-Alberty, L., Ye, S., Daoud, D. et al. (2021). Analysis of sex-based differences in clinical and molecular responses to ischemia reperfusion after lung transplantation. Respir Res 22, 318. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12931-021-01900-y.
Mesquita, F. C. P., Morrissey, J., Monnerat, G. et al. (2021). Decellularized extracellular matrix powder accelerates metabolic maturation at early stages of cardiac differentiation in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Cells Tissues Organs. https://doi.org/10.1159/000521580.
Hochman-Mendez, C., Mesquita, F. C. P., Morrissey, J. et al. (2021). Restoring anatomical complexity of a left ventricle wall as a step toward bioengineering a human heart with human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac cells. Acta Biomater, S1742-7061(21)00823–0. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2021.12.016.
Daoud, D., Chacon Alberty, L., Wei, Q. et al. (2021). Incidence of primary graft dysfunction is higher according to the new ISHLT 2016 guidelines and correlates with clinical and molecular risk factors. J Thorac Dis 13, 3426–3442. https://doi.org/10.21037/jtd-20-3564.
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