Lab
Research Interests
Investigations in the Simon lab center around the redox environment of the heart – how it varies with disease, whether these variations protect or injure the myocardium, and to what extent we can leverage the protective mechanisms we uncover to design novel therapeutics. Utilizing several cutting-edge techniques in high-resolution cellular imaging, proteomics, and biochemistry we study these fundamental aspects of redox patho-biology, and integrate our findings with studies in animal models and human cells/tissue to determine disease causation.
Recently, our research has been focused on the emerging concept that certain kinases (bioactive signaling mediators in the cell) can be redox sensitive, with their activity and regulatory function rapidly altered by local oxidant production. We’ve discovered that signaling via one of the heart’s master kinases, PKA, is particularly sensitive to the cellular redox state, with stress-induced oxidation of PKA leading to pronounced changes in intracellular calcium communication and improved cell adaptation and survival following ischemia. One of the major focuses of the lab now is to better understand the adaptive mechanisms underlying oxidized PKA's cardioprotective effects, and investigate whether this can be harnessed therapeutically to treat ischemic heart disease.
To learn more about our lab and the research we do, visit us at: www.thesimonlab.com
Education, Training & Credentials
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Oxford, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine & British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence, Oxford, UK, 2022
- PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Chicago, IL, 2013
- BS, Alma College, Exercise and Health Science (Chemistry minor), Alma, MI, 2006
Memberships
- American Heart Association, Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences
- International Society of Heart Research
- European Society of Cardiology
Honors & Awards
- American Heart Association, Melvin L Marcus Early Career Investigator Award Finalist, 2020
- British Cardiovascular Society, Young