Research

Each second, billions of electrical events occur in our body. These rapid electrical signals can be triggered by mechanical forces, propagation from neighboring cells, or biochemical cues. They encode essential cell functions while interacting with other processes, such as cell metabolism and gene transcription. The ability to decode these electrical signals presents immense opportunities for therapeutic targeting.

Our lab’s long-term goal is to understand how electrical and mechanoelectrical signaling regulate cell function in both excitable (cardiac) and non-excitable (blood and endothelial) tissues in health and diseases. We will explore how modulating these signals can alter cell behaviors and potentially lead to treatments for a range of common diseases.

To enhance the translational value of our research, we integrate human samples, genetics, and clinical data into our discovery framework. We then investigate detailed mechanisms using a combination of zebrafish, cell, and tissue-on-a-chip models, utilizing transcriptomics, imaging, and electrophysiology techniques.

Ongoing Projects

Building Cell Phenotyping Platforms for Disease Risk Prediction

We are continuing our efforts to build better high-throughput pipelines to systematically quantify cell function and probe specific cell signaling pathways. We aim to establish these cellular readouts as predictors for disease outcomes and responses to therapeutic interventions.

Crosstalk Among Gene Transcription, Metabolism, and Cellular Electrophysiology

We are developing new experimental and computational methods to spatially map gene transcription and electrical activities across the heart. We aim to understand how the interplay between these processes governs heart development and contributes to arrhythmogenic diseases. We are also interested in understanding how metabolic regulators alter these mechanisms in diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Mechanoelectrical and Electrical Signaling in Thrombosis and Inflammation

We are investigating the role of several mechanosensitive, sensory, voltage-gated ion channels in blood clotting and inflammatory responses. Our goal is to establish these ion channels as potential therapeutic targets for relevant diseases, including thrombosis, cardiovascular disorders and neuroinflammatory diseases.