Research Description

The research in my lab is focused on developing computational models of physiological systems. We have two primary focus areas in the lab: computational cardiac electrophysiology and mechanobiology. In our cardiac-related work, we are developing detailed biophysical models of ion channel and cellular signaling pathways to predict electrical activity in cardiac tissue, with a particular interest in the role of ion channel mutations and irregular calcium signaling in driving cardiac arrhythmias. Our work has demonstrated that subcellular and intercellular nanodomains play a critical role in arrhythmia formation.

In our mechanobiology-related work, we are developing models of the mechanochemical interactions between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM), with a focus on ECM assembly and cellular remodeling.  Using detailed biophysical models of ECM mechanical properties, our work has predicted how traction forces govern the assembly of the ECM protein fibronectin.  We are also broadly interested in how cell-cell and cell-ECM mechanical forces regulated cell signaling during diseases states associated with fibrosis and cancer.