Cardiovascular Physiology/Circulation

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Professor in Cardiac Physiology, Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology, University of Leeds

EDUCATION:
BSc Zoology, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
PhD Zoology, Reading University
PGCE Biology and Outdoor Education, Exeter University
Post-Doc, Oxford University

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• Mechanical stimulation of the heart: Acute mechanical stimulation (e.g. stretch) affects the contractility of cardiac muscle in situations such as exercise, when diastolic ventricular volume is increased. Stretch and adrenergic stimulation are the two most important physiological mechanisms for increasing the strength of contraction of the heart. But stretch has also been implicated in the triggering of cardiac arrhythmias and chronic stretch provokes cardiac hypertrophy and eventually heart failure. Thus stretch may be involved in the beneficial effects of regular exercise and the cause of heart attacks, depending upon circumstances. My research group investigates the mechanisms that cause these varied effects on the contractile and electrical activity of the heart.

• Right heart failure: The right ventricle is structurally and functionally different from the left ventricle, it is thinner, operates at much lower pressures and has distinctive pathologies. The right ventricle is much less studied than the left. We are interested in the differences in physiology and pathology between the ventricles. We are currently using an animal model to study changes in contractile and electrical activity of the myocardium in right ventricular failure, linking these to changes in gene expression and in vivo cardiac function.

• Comparative cardiac physiology: Vertebrate heart design varies from class to class, understanding the differences in physiology between vertebrate classes helps our thinking about mammalian physiology and pathology. In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Manchester we are investigating the cardiac physiology of fish.