Cardiac contractile function is reciprocally linked to cardiac morphogenesis during development. Therefore, to understand diseases of development we need to understand the basis for development of heart function. A second important reason to study heart development is that many embryonic genes are re-expressed in adult diseased states. Our lab studies the electrophysiological function of the heart during embryonic development, and adult diseased states. Our emphasis is on ion channel contributions to embryonic development and heart disease. Ion channels are integral membrane proteins that allow intracellular flux of ions from outside to inside cells. Ion channels are controlled by voltage and by a variety of intracellular kinases and phosphatases. A major focus of the lab is to study a novel mechanism whereby a proteolytic fragment of the L-type calcium channel serves a dual role - as a ionic current modulator, and as a transcription factor. A second major area of study is human heart development using human embryonic stem cells as a model system. A major benefit of study embryonic stem cell derived heart cells is their potential as a cell source for future cell replacement therapies for heart disease.