PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Flux (AF) Performance link - highlights from our performance, done in collaboration with FLUX dance company, at the 2017 Curiosity Carnival event.  This piece was developed to demonstrate, through theatrical dance, how atrial fibrillation (AF) effects the body, the psychological impact it can have on individuals and families and what we all can do to look for signs of AF.  For more on FLUX dance company, check here.

Straight Talk podcast link - the Dorothy Hodgkin project is an Oxford initiative to support the careers of women in science.

Biography

I completed my PhD in Physiology and Biophysics (University of Illinois Chicago, USA) in 2013 under the supervision of Dr Beata Wolska and Dr R. John Solaro, where I investigated the functional relevance of modifications within the cardiac myofilament both in the context of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, as well as in acute lipid signalling. For part of this work I was awarded a competitive American Heart Association Pre-doctoral Fellowship. I am currently a post-doctoral researcher within Cardiovascular Medicine, as well as the Co-Director of the Proteomics Training Scheme funded by Oxford's British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence.

Research Summary

In order to maintain cardiac function on a beat-to-beat basis, the heart relies on processes capable of fine-tuning contraction and relaxation. One way this is achieved is through cellular signalling events which result in transient modifications of proteins essential for both intracellular ion fluxing and contractility. While such processes are essential for the heart's normal adaptive response to changing demands, dysregulation of these processes can promote the development and sustainment of disease. My work focuses on the impact of protein modifications, and in particular redox modifications, to ion fluxes and contractility both in the healthy myocardium and in chronic cardiac diseases. I also apply unbiased quantitative assessment of protein modifications, using proteomic approaches, to better understand the key cellular processes altered in cardiac diseases such as atrial fibrillation.