College of Medicine

Heart failure is the leading cause of death in the westernized world.  When the heart is not strong enough, it cannot pump sufficient amounts of blood.  When the heart is relaxing too slow, it cannot fill sufficiently, and thus ultimately also will pump sufficient amounts of blood.  In the lab, we investigate contractile properties of isolated cardiac muscle preparations, and study the strength of contraction, as well as the kinetics of contraction.  We found a significant correlation between kinetics of contraction and relaxation that need further understanding in order to strategize new therapies for human heart failure.