Research Interests
Zhu Lab Website
Neuronal Control of Cardiac Electrophysiology
Sudden arrhythmic death is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. My laboratory utilizes cutting-edge neuroscience techniques to study the sympathetic nervous system of the heart and how it controls susceptibility to lethal arrhythmias.
An injury to the heart is also an injury to its nerves, and common heart diseases such as myocardial infarction result in altered neuronal patterning of the heart muscle, which drives arrhythmogenesis. There are currently no existing anti-arrhythmic therapies that target neuronal patterning.
My research focuses on two parallel lines of inquiry:
1. How do the developmental axon guidance cues directing cardiac neuronal patterning determine arrhythmia susceptibility?
2. What are the cellular and molecular processes directing arrhythmogenic nerve patterning in structural heart diseases such as myocardial infarction?
The convergence of these focus areas will lead to targeted therapeutics for heart rhythm disorders.
Neuronal Control of Cardiac Electrophysiology
Sudden arrhythmic death is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. My laboratory utilizes cutting-edge neuroscience techniques to study the sympathetic nervous system of the heart and how it controls susceptibility to lethal arrhythmias.
An injury to the heart is also an injury to its nerves, and common heart diseases such as myocardial infarction result in altered neuronal patterning of the heart muscle, which drives arrhythmogenesis. There are currently no existing anti-arrhythmic therapies that target neuronal patterning.
My research focuses on two parallel lines of inquiry:
1. How do the developmental axon guidance cues directing cardiac neuronal patterning determine arrhythmia susceptibility?
2. What are the cellular and molecular processes directing arrhythmogenic nerve patterning in structural heart diseases such as myocardial infarction?
The convergence of these focus areas will lead to targeted therapeutics for heart rhythm disorders.