Geoffrey Stuart Pitt

Our research focuses on how intracellular Ca²⁺, the ultimate signal of membrane excitability, regulates membrane excitability and the consequent function of excitable cells. We have discovered and described multiple mechanisms that control Ca²⁺ influx through voltage-gated Ca²⁺ channels and feedback mechanisms by which internal calcium regulates other channels that influence Ca²⁺ channel function. The work has entailed structure-function analyses of ion channels and their regulatory subunits and studies of mutations that lead to inherited channelopathies such as cardiac arrhythmias and epilepsy.