Personnel
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Mr Mathew Anscombe
Drug Discovery for Cardiac Arrhythmias
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Associate Professor Jeff Erickson
Heart disease
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Kai Grinberg
Investigating if CaMKII ablation prevents altered cardiac function in a mouse model of diabetes
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Lauren Kruger
A Novel CaMKII Mutation Alters Kinase Activity and Cardiac Calcium Handling
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Rachel Wallace
Cellular signaling in the cardiovascular system
Research interests
My research focuses on investigating the mechanisms that underlie heart failure and vascular disease particularly in the context of hypertension and diabetes. To this end, we have developed a number of novel tools to assess cardiovascular signaling pathways.
These include:
- FRET-based biosensors to measure kinase activity and localization in living cells
- Custom antibodies to measure biochemical modifications of proteins
- A variety of animal models with enhanced or reduced susceptibility to cardiovascular pathology.
With this research, we hope to contribute new understanding to the molecular basis of cardiovascular signaling that will culminate in potential clinical therapies for heart disease and atherosclerosis.
Projects
- Identifying the mechanism by which CaMKII regulates cellular signaling in the diabetic heart
- The role of CaMKII in vascular physiology and pathology
- Nitric oxide as a mediator of cardiac signaling
Current funding
- Health Research Council Project Grant
- Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fast Start Research Grant
- University of Otago Research Grant
Previous funding
- American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant
- National Institute of Health T32 Fellowship
