President 

Héctor Valdivia, PhD

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

Dr. Héctor H. Valdivia, Professor of Internal Medicine and of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, has more than 25 years of experience in the field of ion channels. He has published on L-type Ca channels, voltage-dependent K channels, Ca-dependent (big) K channel, and epithelial Cl channels. More recently his lab has focused efforts on cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, ryanodine receptors, and intracellular calcium homeostasis.

For more information, please visit Valdivia Lab Site.

Secretary

Jonathan A. Kirk, Ph.D.

The Kirk lab, at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine studies the mechanisms and functional consequences of the weakening heart during various cardiovascular diseases, focusing on the molecular mechanisms that cause the myofilament to malfunction.

For more information, please visit Kirk Lab Site.

Treasurer

Christopher Johnson, Ph.D.

Dr. Johnson is a structural biologist that utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to understand how calcium modifies the function of proteins in excitable cells such as ion channels. Working at the interface of science and medicine his work combines structural biology, biophysics and electrophysiology to understand how the intra cellular calcium sensing protein “Calmodulin” senses changes in calcium concentration and modifies protein-protein interactions.

For more information, please visit Johnson Lab Site.

2020-2023 President

Sakthivel Sadayappan, PhD, MBA

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Sadayappan’s research is driven by the desire to improve cardiac health with the long-range goal of preventing the development of heart failure that results from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and coronary heart disease. 

For more information, please visit Sadayappan Lab Site.

2018-2020 Co-President

Donald Bers, PhD

UC Davis, Davis, CA

Dr. Bers is an internationally renowned leader in cardiovascular research, particularly molecular-cellular and animal studies aimed at understanding regulation of the normal heartbeat and how things go wrong in pathophysiological states like heart failure and arrhythmias.

For more information, please visit Bers Lab Site.

2018-2020 Co-President

Jil C. Tardiff, MD, PhD

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Tardiff’s work focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the development of the most common form of genetic cardiomyopathy,hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that has been linked to mutations in genes encoding proteins of the cardiac sarcomere.

For more information, please visit Tardiff Lab Site.

2014-2017

Bjorn C. Knollmann, MD, PhD 

Director, Vanderbilt Center for Arrhythmia Research and Therapeutics Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 

Dr. Knollmann investigates the biology of cardiac arrhythmias. Using genetically-altered mice and human induced pluripotent stem cells as model systems, ongoing lab research examines several key pathways of arrhythmias and sudden death in humans. Ongoing clinical studies test new approaches toward preventing atrial fibrillation. 

For more information, please visit Knollmann Lab Site.

2010-2013

Steven R. Houser, PhD 

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

The research in the Houser laboratory is focused on those processes thatmaintain the electrical and contractile properties of the normal heart andthe defects in these processes that lead to electrical instability (arrhythmias and sudden death), poor cardiac pump performance and congestive heart failure). 

For more information, please visit Houser Lab Site.

2007-2009

James N. Weiss, MD 

UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Weiss’ research focuses on ion channel biophysics, cardiac electrophysiology, arrhythmias, and ischemia and mitochondrial biology. He leads an interdisciplinary group combining mathematical and experimental biology.

For more information, please visit Weiss Lab Site.

2004-2006

Paul D. Allen, MD, PhD 

Professor of Anaesthesia, Emeritus 
Harvard Medical School

Dr. Allen has been studying the protein-protein interactions in skeletal muscle excitation contraction coupling to discovery the function of RyR1, CaV1.1, Triadin, Calsequestrin, Junctin, CaVbeta1a and CaV alpha2 delta. 

For more information, please visit Allen Lab Site.

2000-2003

Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD

Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA 

The current research areas of Dr. Marbán are using biologically based therapies for cardiac regeneration and biological pacemakers. 

For more information, please visit Marbán Lab Site.

1997-1999

Martin Morad, PhD

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Dr. Morad is an internationally recognized scientist in the field of cardiac electrophysiology and calcium signaling, specifically in the area of calcium-binding proteins. 

For more information, please visit Morad Lab Site.