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School of Medicine Columbia

Faculty and Staff

Martin Morad, Ph.D.

Title: Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy
Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Health
Department: Cell Biology & Anatomy
School of Medicine Columbia
Email: moradm@musc.edu
Phone: 803-216-3808
Office:

173 Ashley Ave. BSC. 303
P.O. Box 250505

Education

BA Lake Forest College 1961

Ph.D. Physiology SUNY, New York City 1965

Postdoctoral work at Heidelberg University and UCLA

Research

Dr. Morad is an internationally recognized scientist in the field of cardiac electrophysiology and calcium signaling, specifically in the area of calcium-binding proteins. The cardiac muscle is a complex system composed of 40,000 proteins. These proteins "tell" the heart how to contract and how fast; they also control how heart muscle grows and regenerates. Calcium acts as a signaling mechanism in the function of thesec proteins. Dr. Morad seeks to discover what causes these calcium signaling mechanisms to stop working properly, which can result in congestive heart failure. Understanding this process could lead to new therapeutic approaches to treat congestive heart failure and other conditions. His work could lead to the world's first tissue-derived human heart pacemaker. A biological pacemaker derived from genetically engineered cells has great commercial viability as a replacement for current pacemaker technology made from artificial materials

Publications

  • Arnáiz-Cot JJ, Damon BJ, Zhang XH, Cleemann L, Yamaguchi N, Meissner GW, Morad M. (2013) Cardiac calcium signaling pathologies associated with defective calmodulin regulation of type 2 ryanodine receptor. J Physiol (In Press)
  • Zhang XH, Haviland S, Wei H, Sarić T, Fatima A, Hescheler J, Cleemann L, Morad M (2013) Ca2+ signaling in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPS-CM) from normal and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT)-afflicted subjects. Cell Calcium (In Press)
  • Rosa AO, Yamaguchi N, Morad M. (2013) Mechanical regulation of native and the recombinant calcium channel. Cell Calcium 53:264-274.
  • Scaringi JA, Rosa AO, Morad M, Cleemann L (2013) A new method to detect rapid oxygen changes around cells: How quickly do calcium channels sense oxygen in cardiomyocytes? J Appl Physiol (1985). (In Press)
  • Rosa AO, Yamaguchi N, Morad M (2013) Mechanical regulation of native and the recombinant calcium channel. Cell Calcium 53:264-274.
  • Belmonte S, Morad M. "Pressure-flow"-triggered Cai-transients in rat cardiac myocytes: possible mechanisms and role of mitochondria. J Physiol. [Epub ahead of print] 2008

 


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