Kerry McDonald, PhD

The research program of Kerry McDonald, PhD, focuses on factors that determine cardiac myocyte power generating capacity, a contractile property that dictates ventricular performance. Research is focused on how several physiological factors including Ca2+, myosin heavy chain isoforms, thin filament activation levels, sarcomere length and myofibrillar protein phosphorylation regulate power output of cardiac myocytes. His program has also examined how endurance exercise training and disease states, such as diabetic cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure, affect cardiac myocyte structure and function. Researchers’ experimental approach incorporates molecular biology, protein chemistry, cell biophysics, whole heart hemodynamics and computational modeling to systematically determine processes that regulate myocyte power output and ventricular function in health and disease.