Connecting the Molecular Dots of Heart Disease

The most common genetic heart disease is also a silent one. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects one in 500 adults, and with few symptoms, it usually goes unnoticed. According to the American Heart Association, the disease is a common cause of sudden cardiac arrest among young adults.

Associate Professor Aldrin Gomes, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis, studies the underpinnings of heart disease, focusing on the machinery within heart cells responsible for producing the heartbeat. Along with colleagues in the Gomes Lab, he’s searching for molecular clues that will help medical professionals better manage heart disease.

“Heart disease is still the number one killer around the world,” said Gomes, who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Health Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology. “How can we reduce the number of people that die from heart disease? A lot of us have family members with some heart disease.” 

Read the full story to learn more about Gomes' heart disease research