Ion Channel Biology and Personalized Medicine

Dan Roden
Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Personalized Medicine
1285B Medical Research Building-4
615-322-0067 (office)
dan.roden@vanderbilt.edu

Ion channels are the fundamental units determining excitability in tissues such as heart, skeletal muscle, and brain. Research in the Roden laboratory has focused on drug block of ion channels and how this might be therapeutic (or detrimental) in heart disease. Work in the lab focuses on two broad areas:  (1) studies of physiology and pharmacology of ion channels and other proteins determining excitability in heterologous systems, and in zebrafish and mice. The questions center on mechanisms of arrhythmia susceptibility and variable responses to drugs, as well as on novel roles of ion channel proteins during development.  (2) The broad areas of genomics and pharmacogenomics.  Dr. Roden is Principal Investigator on the Vanderbilt DNA databank, a very large DNA repository linked to electronic medical records.  The resource is a tool for discovery and for studies examining how to apply genomic information to the bedside.

For more information, please visit the lab website.