Dr. Richard Jabbour is a currently Clinical Research Fellow in the second year of his PhD in cardiac regenerative medicine. His PhD is focused on understanding the mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis from stem cell therapy when pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes are used to treat cardiac disease and whether the use of biomaterials can mitigate this. Biomaterials hold great promise for the cardiac regenerative medicine field by providing both a platform for both ex-vivo stem cell derived cardiomyocyte maturation and a protective environment for the cells during the immediate / early phase when they are integrating with the host. He is currently investigating how conductive polymers affect ex-vivo myocardial electrophysiology and performing in-vivo engineered heart tissue grafting experiments using a rabbit model of heart failure.