Quinn Lab

The Cardiac Autoregulation and Arrhythmias Laboratory, directed by Dr. Alex Quinn, is focused on the intrinsic regulation of cardiac function and the effects of mechano-electric interactions on heart rhythm. We employ a multi-scale, multi-species approach (from whole animals to isolated tissue and cell preparations, including rabbit, mouse, and zebrafish), combining engineering-based experimental methods (optical mapping, fluorescence microscopy, and optogenetics) with computational modeling to gain insight into normal cardiovascular function and pathologies at various levels of functional and structural complexity. Our overall goals are to: (i) define organ-, tissue-, cell-, and subcellular-level mechanisms responsible for (patho-)physiological responses; (ii) discover their relevance for heart rhythm in health and disease; and (iii) use this knowledge to develop novel targeted anti-arrhythmic therapies.