The process of discovery has always fascinated me.  As a scientist I get to satisfy my craving for new knowledge, everyday.  My favorite part about working in science is that, if you are doing it well, then you regularly do things, or learn things, or see things that have never been done, known, or seen by anyone else before you.

My area interest is the heart.  More specifically I study the electrical signals that regulate contraction of the heart, a field known as cardiac electrophysiology.  The focus of my research is on a potassium ion channel called hERG, which stands for human ether-a-go-go related gene.  hERG gets its name from its fruit fly orthologue, whose absence induces seizures in fruit flies following sedation with ether.  In humans, hERG, is a fundamental regulator of electrical excitability in the heart.  Changing hERG function can dramatically alter cardiac excitability and behavior.  My desire is to link fundamental observations of hERG protein biophysics with human physiology so that we can develop new therapies for cardiac disease.