Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Iron is an essential trace element required for various critical processes in the human body, thus inadequate supply of iron can elicit health defects. On the other hand, there is strong evidence that too much iron induces detrimental celluar effects. Indeed, disturbed iron homeostasis is associated with various pathological conditions, including obesity, diabetes and heart failure. We contend that disturbed iron homeostasis is an important and underappreciated contributor to development of heart failure. We have designed this project to investigate mechanisms via which iron impacts on the heart and their physiological significance. We anticipate that our findings will provide new knowledge relevant to current diagnostics and therapeutics related to altered iron status in clinical settings.