Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2008

Mentor: Joseph Hill, MD, PhD
Department: Internal Medicine / Cardiology
Room number: NB11.200
Mail Code: 8573
Phone number: 8.1400
E-mail: joseph.hill@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Pathological Remodeling of the Heart

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects)

Basic, including some animal-based research

Brief Description of Project:

Our lab focuses on 3 major aspects of pathological cardiac remodeling:
o Myocyte growth and atrophy (i.e. mechanisms governing cardiac hypertrophy);
o Myocyte death (specifically autophagic remodeling and programmed cell death);
o Electrophysiological remodeling (regulation of ion transporting proteins and genes coding for these proteins; ventricular fibrosis)
Students will be paired with a senior graduate student or postdoctoral fellow to conduct a small, discrete project to test a pre-defined hypothesis. In parallel, students will be exposed to the entire spectrum of investigation underway in the lab.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
Wang, Y., Cheng, J., Chen, G., Rob, F., Naseem, R.H., Nguyen, L., Johnstone, J., Hill, J.A. Remodeling of outward K+ currents in pressure-overload heart failure. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 18:869-875, 2007.

Wang, Y., Tandan, S., Cheng, J., Yang, C., Nguyen, L., Sugianto, J. Johnstone, J.L., and Hill, J.A. CaMKII-dependent remodeling of Ca2+ current in pressure-overload heart failure (submitted, in review at J Biol Chem)

Ni, Y.G., Berenji, K., Wang, N., Oh, M., Sachan, N., Dey, A., Cheng, J., Lu, G., Morris, D.J., Castrillon, D., Gerard, R.D, Rothermel, B.A., Hill, J.A. FoxO transcription factors blunt cardiac hypertrophy by inhibiting calcineurin signaling. Circulation 114:1159-1168, 2006.

Ni, Y.G., Wang, N., Morris, D.J., Gerard, R.D., Kuro-o, M., Rothermel, B.A., Hill, J.A. FoxO transcription factors activate Akt and attenuate insulin signaling in heart by inhibiting protein phosphatases. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(51):20517-20522, 2007.