Graduate Learner Represents Canada in Berlin with Donor Heart Breakthrough

Adrien Lam, Falling Walls Lab Winner

Patients awaiting a heart transplant can spend months or years on a waitlist, while viable donor hearts go unused simply because their blood type is incompatible with potential recipients.

To help address this critical organ shortage, Adrien Lam, a researcher in the Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta, presented "Breaking the Wall of Donor Heart Incompatibility" at Falling Walls Lab Edmonton.

Adrien’s research team utilizes a two-step enzyme process called Azymes, which removes the A-antigen—a sugar marker that identifies a heart as blood type A. Delivered through ex situ heart perfusion, a preservation system that keeps donor hearts functioning outside the body, the process converts type A hearts to more closely resemble type O donor organs.

This innovative approach could significantly increase the number of compatible donor hearts available for transplantation, reduce wait times, and improve access to life-saving treatment.

Adrien is supervised by Dr. Darren Freed and Dr. Jennifer Conway, and collaborates with Dr. Lori West and Dr. Jason Acker on this groundbreaking project.

What is Falling Walls Lab?

Falling Walls Lab is a prestigious global pitch competition and networking platform for the next generation of researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the initiative challenges students and early-career professionals from all academic disciplines to share their breakthrough ideas in just three minutes.

Participants present their work to a panel of academic and business leaders, demonstrating how their research can "break down walls" standing in the way of scientific and societal progress. Winners from local pitch competitions—such as Falling Walls Lab Edmonton—advance to the Global Finale held annually in Berlin, Germany.