University of Missouri – Columbia (MU)
My research goal is to seek a mechanistic understanding of diastolic pathology in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and identify its therapeutic targets. My area of expertise is in muscle mechanics, specifically in measuring the force of single cardiomyocytes, crossbridge kinetics, myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity, and cytoplasmic Ca2+ transients in intact cardiomyocytes. In addition, I also have extensive experience in in-vivo left ventricular (LV) functional studies, including pressure-volume analysis, echocardiography, and exercise studies. A major strength of my research is the use of integrative diastolic approaches at multi-levels ranging from in vivo LV to cardiac myofilament levels and the usage of rigorous hemodynamic measurement to precisely probe the cardiac function. My HFpEF research plan involves 2 projects: 1) Studying sex-specific myofilament dysfunction in post-menopausal HFpEF, and 2) Studying reno-sarcomeric interplay in uremic cardiomyopathy, a subphenotype of HFpEF.