My research area is bioenergetics. Energy production and consumption inside a biological cell occurs under a very finely regulated manner. The focus of my research is the understanding of the regulatory network in the heart that controls the flow of energy. This includes the delivery of oxygen and metabolic substrates from the blood, to the energy conversion processes in the cell, to the actual muscle contraction and ion transport associated with the pumping of blood. Because mitochondria are the 'powerhouse' of energy production, a major effort is put in determining the cellular factors that control and balance the interaction between the production of ATP and its utilization. This is being accomplished at the level of intact heart cells as well as isolated organelles and proteins using various biochemical and biophysical techniques. We are currently working on the mechanisms that calcium and phosphate can regulate muscle energy metabolism in mitochondria in the intact heart cells.
