Computational Biology Research Focus: Cardiac Electrophysiology

Sudden death secondary to ventricular fibrillation (VF) remains a leading cause of mortality in the United States, and the occurrence of atrial fibrillation, which is responsible for about 15 percent of all strokes, continues to rise. Therapy for arrhythmias has been largely ineffectual, principally because the underlying mechanisms are not well understood and probing for potential mechanisms has been hindered by the inability to precisely modify specific ionic currents and the difficulty in gathering reliable experimental data. To address these issues, many researchers utilize mathematical modeling and simulation of the electrical dynamics of cardiac cells and tissue.

This field of research is highly interdisciplinary and requires expertise in a number of sub-fields, including modeling, sophisticated computational algorithms, scientific applications, and advanced interactive visualization.

• Modeling: Mathematical models of cardiac electrophysiology and other excitable media.
• Algorithms: Advanced numerical methods for solving the differential equations describing cardiac electrophysiology and other excitable media.
• Applications: Computational research
• Visualization: Java applets and interactive visualization tools.

Learn more about the heart and cardiovascular diseases:

• American Heart Association
• Heart Rhythm Society

Other information:

• My Curriculum Vitae