HeartWorks

HeartWorks HeartWorks is a nonprofit creating outcomes & opportunities for the 1 in 100 born with CHD. Together, we're building a better future for CHD.

We advance research, lead clinical trials, and offer ways to support our mission. Together, WE BUILD HEARTS. HeartWorks was created in June, 2020 to accelerate and expand the product development pioneered by the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), founded at Mayo Clinic in 2010. The HLHS program has formed a nationwide research consortium and developed c

ell-based therapeutics to treat CHD, some of which are currently in clinical trials. The HLHS program’s team of physicians, scientists, and engineers have a combined average of nearly 30 years of experience across their respective disciplines and have focused this expertise on treatments for the most severe forms of CHD, thereby furthering advanced research in genetics, stem cell biology, clinical trials, and cell-based manufacturing. The team developed a platform that enables multiple cell-based clinical trials to be conducted simultaneously in collaboration with a consortium of world class medical institutions. HeartWorks will expand the HLHS program product pipeline and grow its ecosystem of partners to scale up development of new CHD therapies, clinical trials, and product launches. Our ecosystem is a critical component of our success. All of our partners believe in and actively support our vision of transformative product development for the CHD community. We will engender trust with our benefactors, CHD children and families, and partner institutions by sharing data and outcomes at a level not possible before within individual institutions. We will share our successes together.

What are you looking at?These are fibroblasts - cells grown from a small skin biopsy.Fibroblasts are naturally found in ...
09/04/2026

What are you looking at?

These are fibroblasts - cells grown from a small skin biopsy.

Fibroblasts are naturally found in skin and connective tissue. In the lab, our team carefully grows and expands these cells, creating enough to move forward to the next steps of the process.

Why do they matter at HeartWorks?

These fibroblasts can be reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs,) cells that have the ability to become many different cell types. From there, we can guide them to become cardiomyocytes, the muscle cells that make the heart beat.

So while this microscope image may look like a dish full of cells, it represents an important early step in a much bigger process:

Skin biopsy → fibroblasts → iPSCs → heart cells.

Learn more → https://heartworksinc.org/understanding-the-science-behind-heartworks

09/04/2026

Heart Grandparents, your coffee is going to taste a little better in this. ❤️

Join us on September 14 at 9 AM CT for a special virtual Coffee + Conversation created just for Heart Grandparents.

We’ll keep it casual while giving you a closer look at HeartWorks: what we’re building, how it all works, where donations go and what we’re working toward for the future of CHD. Plus, we’ll leave plenty of time for your questions.

❤️ Event admission is FREE
☕ Add a HeartWorks mug for $25

Mug deadline: September 7! Register by Monday to make sure yours arrives in time to sip along with us.

Register: link in bio | https://donate.heartworksinc.org/event/grandparents-day-coffee/e834138

Name a HeartWorks Robot - Silent AuctionSeptember 12 at 6:00 PM – September 15 at 6:00 PMOur robots have been hard at wo...
09/04/2026

Name a HeartWorks Robot - Silent Auction

September 12 at 6:00 PM – September 15 at 6:00 PM

Our robots have been hard at work in the HeartWorks lab, helping our team explore how automation can make personalized cell manufacturing more precise, consistent and scalable.

For the first time, we’re auctioning off the opportunity to officially name a HeartWorks robot!

Name one for your heart warrior. Name one in honor or memory of someone you love. Choose something that represents what you’re fighting for or simply give a robot a really great name.

The winning names will become part of the HeartWorks lab and our story as we continue building toward a future with more options for the 1 in 100.

Bidding opens: September 12 at 6:00 PM
Bidding closes: September 15 at 6:00 PM

Get your robot names ready! 🔗 https://pro.gofundme.com/live/register/robots-at-heartworks/d03450d9-e0eb-4069-a085-9a7df3e277af

🍷🎨 And the winner is… ZELIE! Congratulations to 7-year-old Zelie, who was born with HLHS, whose artwork will be featured...
09/03/2026

🍷🎨 And the winner is… ZELIE!

Congratulations to 7-year-old Zelie, who was born with HLHS, whose artwork will be featured on this year’s special HeartWorks w**e label from Porter Family Vineyards!

Soon, you’ll be able to purchase a bottle featuring Zelie’s winning design and this February, her artwork will make its way to hundreds of homes across the country as part of our 6th Annual HeartWorks Virtual Dinner.

We can’t wait to see this label come to life! Congratulations, Zelie!

And for everyone waiting on Virtual Dinner details... SAVE THE DATE announcement coming SOON.

New to HeartWorks? Start here.HeartWorks is a nonprofit with one focus: changing what’s possible for people born with co...
09/01/2026

New to HeartWorks? Start here.

HeartWorks is a nonprofit with one focus: changing what’s possible for people born with congenital heart disease (CHD).

We bring scientists, physicians, engineers, manufacturing experts and heart families together to develop new therapies and technologies for the 1 in 100.

And there’s a LOT happening.

🔹 Turning skin cells into heart cells
🔹 Developing therapies designed to strengthen the heart
🔹 Building new technologies specifically for CHD
🔹 Creating the infrastructure to move ideas from discovery toward patients
🔹 Forming a CHD data community (The Co-op) to better understand the 1 in 100 and help shape what comes next

Our "New to HeartWorks?" blog post brings the big picture together: where we came from, what we’re building and why we believe a different future for CHD is possible.

🔗 https://heartworksinc.org/new-to-heartworks-heres-where-to-start

08/31/2026

Register by TONIGHT for FREE HeartWorks stickers!

We’re sending a little extra HeartWorks love to students heading into a brand-new school year.

Request a HeartWorks sticker for your student, then add it to the backpack, water bottle, notebook - wherever they want to show it off! Tag HeartWorks so we can cheer you on!

Requests open through August 31 | Form: in bio | https://heartworksinc.org/back-2-school

Here’s to new adventures, new things to learn and a great year ahead. Go shine!

$3 MILLION+ | 125 FAMILY TEAMSHeart families already have a lot on their plates and yet, they continue to show up, ral...
08/26/2026

$3 MILLION+ | 125 FAMILY TEAMS

Heart families already have a lot on their plates and yet, they continue to show up, rally their communities and move mountains for CHD.

Together, 125 family-led teams have raised $3 million+ for HeartWorks, helping fuel the research, therapies and technologies being built for the 1 in 100.

That kind of impact deserves to be celebrated…and continued.

Want to join the effort? Start a HeartWorks fundraising team today or email [email protected] to learn more.

Team page link in bio | https://heartworksinc.org/families/team-page

Behind every experiment, test and milestone is a team of people working to turn big ideas into real possibilities for th...
08/25/2026

Behind every experiment, test and milestone is a team of people working to turn big ideas into real possibilities for the 1 in 100.

WEBUILDHEARTS.ORG

Webinar this Wednesday: Research & Development What can beating heart cells tell us about how well a therapy is working?...
08/25/2026

Webinar this Wednesday: Research & Development

What can beating heart cells tell us about how well a therapy is working?
How do scientists actually test the heart cells we’re developing?
Can we see how a heart cell responds to an electrical signal?
What happens when we put our cells to the test?

Let's chat tomorrow! - https://mailchi.mp/webuildhearts.org/we-are-doers-join-us-9260675

Back to school = FREE HeartWorks stickers!We’re sending a little extra HeartWorks love to students heading into a brand-...
08/25/2026

Back to school = FREE HeartWorks stickers!

We’re sending a little extra HeartWorks love to students heading into a brand-new school year.

Request a FREE HeartWorks sticker for your student, then add it to the backpack, water bottle, notebook - wherever they want to show it off! Tag so we can cheer you on!

Requests open through August 31 | Form: in bio | https://heartworksinc.org/back-2-school

Here’s to new adventures, new things to learn and a great year ahead. Go shine!

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3033 41st Street NW, Suite 305
Rochester, MN
55901

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