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The Department of Physiology & Biophysics consists of world-class scientists and teachers. We are dedicated to excellence in research, training and education as we push the frontiers of scientific discovery. Join us in the joy of discovery.
We take pride in training medical, nursing and graduate students who will implement and fulfill that future. Our department provides a warm, collegial, and welcoming environment for budding scientists and established investigators alike. We work side by side investigating the physiological processes that underlie both normal and pathological human body functions.
Our internationally recognized research applies innovative experimental approaches to define fundamental molecular mechanisms within these processes as both putative points of pathological failure and potential targets for new therapeutic interventions.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Lothar A. Blatter, MD, Dr.med. (Physiology & Biophysics) and Kathrin Banach, PhD (Cardiology/Internal Medicine) a $2.7 million grant (R01HL164453) to conduct research on the mechanism of electrical and calcium alternans in the atria. Alternans is defined as beat-to-beat alternations in action potential duration (electrical alternans), contraction strength and calcium transient amplitude. Cardiac alternans is a recognized risk factor for cardiac arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation. This study seeks to investigate the conditions that cause and sustain atrial alternans, and to determine cellular mechanisms of alternans in individual atrial myocytes, in multicellular tissue and at organ level, and to explore therapeutic interventions that reduce alternans risk.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Lothar A. Blatter, MD, Dr.med. (Physiology & Biophysics) and Kathrin Banach, PhD (Cardiology/Internal Medicine) a $2.7 million grant to research of calcium regulation in the atria that controls activity and contraction, but also arrhythmic activity and atrial fibrillation. In the heart contraction is controlled by calcium ions that are released from intracellular calcium stores. This calcium release occurs through two different ion channels, termed the ryanodine receptor and the IP3 receptor. The importance of the IP3 receptor is controversial, however there is growing evidence, established by the PIs of this study, that IP3 receptor dysfunction causes atrial rhythm disorders. In this study the PIs will investigate the novel hypothesis that atrial IP3 receptors are co-regulated by the cellular messenger IP3 and reactive oxygen species in defined cellular signaling domains. The understanding of the IP3 receptor regulatory mechanisms will provide the basis for the development of novel strategies for prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Lothar A. Blatter, MD, Dr.med. (Physiology & Biophysics) and Kathrin Banach, PhD (Cardiology/Internal Medicine) a $2.7 million grant (R01HL164453) to conduct research on the mechanism of electrical and calcium alternans in the atria. Alternans is defined as beat-to-beat alternations in action potential duration (electrical alternans), contraction strength and calcium transient amplitude. Cardiac alternans is a recognized risk factor for cardiac arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation. This study seeks to investigate the conditions that cause and sustain atrial alternans, and to determine cellular mechanisms of alternans in individual atrial myocytes, in multicellular tissue and at organ level, and to explore therapeutic interventions that reduce alternans risk.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Lothar A. Blatter, MD, Dr.med. (Physiology & Biophysics) and Kathrin Banach, PhD (Cardiology/Internal Medicine) a $2.7 million grant to research of calcium regulation in the atria that controls activity and contraction, but also arrhythmic activity and atrial fibrillation. In the heart contraction is controlled by calcium ions that are released from intracellular calcium stores. This calcium release occurs through two different ion channels, termed the ryanodine receptor and the IP3 receptor. The importance of the IP3 receptor is controversial, however there is growing evidence, established by the PIs of this study, that IP3 receptor dysfunction causes atrial rhythm disorders. In this study the PIs will investigate the novel hypothesis that atrial IP3 receptors are co-regulated by the cellular messenger IP3 and reactive oxygen species in defined cellular signaling domains. The understanding of the IP3 receptor regulatory mechanisms will provide the basis for the development of novel strategies for prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation.
Xun Ai, MD, was named the John H. and Margaret V. Krehbiel Professor of Cardiology, effective July 1, 2021. Read More…
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded Xun Ai, MD, associate professor, physiology and biophysics, Rush Medical College, a five-year, $2.4 million grant to research the link between atrial fibrillation and thrombogenesis. Xun Ai, MD, associate professor, physiology and biophysics, Rush Medical College, and her team seek to establish a previously unrecognized crosstalk between heart and platelets and uncover the role of cardiac JNK2 in the development of both atrial fibrillation and thrombogenesis. Researchers will use results of the study, Heart-platelet Crosstalk: JNK, AF, and Thrombogenesis, to form a foundation toward developing novel therapies to treat and prevent atrial fibrillation and stroke.