Halina Dobrzynski

Overview

General research profile

Structure, function and clinical relevance of the cardiac conduction system, including the atrioventricular ring and outflow tract tissues

It is now over 100 years since the discovery of the cardiac conduction system, consisting of three main parts, the sinus node, the atrio-ventricular node and the His–Purkinje system. The system is vital for the initiation and co-ordination of the heartbeat. Over the last decade, immense strides have been made in our understanding of the cardiac conduction system. It has been shown that the system has a unique embryological origin, distinct from that of the working myocardium, and is more extensive than originally thought with additional structures: atrio-ventricular rings, a third node (retro-aortic node) and pulmonary and aortic sleeves. It has been shown that the expression of ion channels, intracellular calcium-handling proteins and gap junction channels in the system is specialized (different from that in the ordinary working myocardium), but appropriate to explain the functioning of the system, although there is continued debate concerning the ionic basis of pacemaking. We are beginning to understand the mechanisms (fibrosis and remodeling of ion channels and related proteins) responsible for dysfunction of the system (bradycardia, heart block and bundle branch block) associated with atrial fibrillation and heart failure and even athletic training. Equally, we are beginning to appreciate how naturally occurring mutations in ion channels cause congenital cardiac conduction system dysfunction. Finally, current therapies, the status of a new therapeutic strategy (use of a specific heart rate lowering drug) and a potential new therapeutic strategy (bio-pacemaking) are of great interests globally.

Biography

Halina Dobrzynski obtained a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences (Physiology) in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Bimoedical Sciences (Cellular Cardiology) in 2000. Both degrees were obtained from the University of Leeds, UK. For five years she worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Leeds. In 2005 she moved to the University of Manchester as a Lecturer in Cardiac Biology. Since August 2011 she is a Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Biology.

Other posts held:

2008-2012  Visiting Researcher, Washington University, St. Louis, USA

2005_   _Visiting Research Associate, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, USA

2005 _ _Visiting Research Associate, Washington University, St. Louis, USA

2002  Visiting Research Associate, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

1996  Guest Ph.D. student, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Japan

1995  Research Assistant, Department of Histopathology, Leeds General Infirmary, UK