We investigate how cardiac metabolism is altered in heart failure, and use these discoveries to seek new therapeutic interventions.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Heart failure—the inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood with each heartbeat—is an increasingly prevalent cause of such disease, contributing to one in 9 deaths in the United States. We study how altering the transport of calcium ions into mitochondria, critical for the cardiac heartbeat and metabolism, can be used to treat heart failure. For these studies, we focus on both adult and pediatric forms of this disease, particularly those caused by mitochondrial dysfunction.