Effects of changes in mechanical load on cardiac autoregulation in vivo

The heart beats 3-4 billion times in a person’s lifetime, making it the only part of the body that continues to work – without a break – for one’s entire existence! For this to occur, the heart must be highly regulated, so that is continues to function normally. Much of this regulation occurs within the heart itself, with the most important factor being tissue stretch. This allows the heart to adapt to changes in physical demands to keep blood flow in balance. Current studies looking at the regulation of the heart in response to stretch are performed primarily in isolated tissue and cells. In this Mitacs project, my goal is to study cardiac regulation in the intact animal, to understand how it works at the whole organism level. The research team at Colorado State University has developed a method for this, which I will learn, combine with my current techniques for measuring cardiac function, and then bring back to Dalhousie University to further explore cardiac regulation in healthy and diseased states […]

Faculty Supervisor:

T. Alexander Quinn

Student:

Partner:

Colorado State University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health); Biotechnology; Health and Related Sciences & Technology

University:

Dalhousie University

Program: