Derek Laver

Biography

My research brings together physics, engineering and biology to understand the complex molecular and electrochemical mechanisms controlling heart contraction and rhythm. This entails sophisticated experimental techniques in which single molecules are embedded into artificial membranes where the effects of natural biochemicals or drugs can be measured and then analysed using computation modelling.  My research group is advancing our understanding of the function and role of ion channels that control muscle contraction and the heart rhythm. Contraction occurs in response to the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR, the intracellular calcium store). Calcium is released via SR calcium release channels known as ryanodine receptors (RyR), which are not only responsible for contractile force, but also heart rhythm. Our computational physiology has produced the first feasible solution to the old problem of how calcium release from the SR, once initiated, can be terminated, an explanation now accepted by the field. Our experiments have produced insight into how mutations in RyRs or their associated proteins lead to human disorders such as malignant hyperthermia in skeletal muscle and sudden death cardiac arrhythmias. We have recently discovered the mechanism of action of two, clinically significant, anti-arrhythmic drugs; flecainide and dantrolene, which paves the way for understanding how anti-arrhythmic drugs work.

Research Interest

Physical Sciences, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences