Congratulations to Dr Marie-Louise Ward and Dr Amelia Power from the Department of Physiology for their outstanding achievements.
Marie-Louise and Amelia are investigating the molecular and functional changes in diabetic hearts to develop improved treatments. The Muscle Cell Function research group obtains tiny samples of viable human atrial tissue from consenting patients undergoing routine heart surgery, with the help of their clinical colleagues at Auckland City Hospital.
Their group showed that contractile function and energy supply were impaired in tissue from diabetic patients in comparison to samples from non-diabetic patients. Recently, Amelia established a novel culture system for multicellular heart muscles that enables the recording of contractile function from the heart muscle over periods of several weeks.
Their AMRF research will use cultured human atrial trabeculae to determine the nature of calcium cycling and contractile function deficits, and investigate whether alternative fuels can improve energy supply in the diabetic heart. Their work will benefit patients at risk of developing diabetic heart disease in New Zealand and worldwide.
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