Generic Portal

Research is focused on the mechanism and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.  Areas of interest are:

• Electrophysiological and molecular characteristics of arrhythmogenic substrates at the atrial and ventricular level as well as the conduction system.
• Determinants of impulse propagation, especially sodium channels, gap junction channels and collagen. Use of transgenic mouse models to study the role of the different parameters in arrhythmogeneity.
• Modulation of electrophysiological parameters. Increased coupling or excitability by pharmacological interventions and gene transfer. Blocking of gene defects in channelopathies by siRNA technique.
• Tissue engineering for myocardial repair. 3D cultures in collagen scaffolds of cardiac progenitor cells. Development of biological pacemakers and AV nodes.
• Application of computer models for propagation of the electrical impulse. Calculation of surface ECGs from model parameters.
• Pathophysiology of sudden cardiac death in cardiac sodium channelopathy.
• Electrocardiographic Imaging; Development and application of a non-invasive technique to determine epicardial and endocardial activation of the heart from mltiple (64) electrograms recorded from the bodys surface.

From 2004-2008 8 grants (EC, NHS, DPTE/BSIK, STW) have been obtained to support the research lines.