Grant: Operating Grant

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a very common disorder of cardiac rhythm. It causes much disability in the population and increases the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke. The treatments now available for AF are inadequate. This project aims to develop new treatment options for AF by targeting the mechanisms that cause the problem. To do this, we will work with new animal models of AF that we have developed, such as a model of heart failure and a model of intense and sustained exercise training. We will study the changes in the molecular control of cardiac function that promote AF development. We will then examine new opportunities to prevent AF by normalizing specific molecular signalling pathways that we find to be disturbed. In this way, we hope to design improved treatment options to prevent AF and to suppress it once it occurs.