Research Focus

Heart failure is a growing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the best available therapies, prognosis remains poor for many patients with heart failure. Thus, there is a growing unmet clinical need for novel therapeutic approaches in heart failure.

The heart changes in response to exercise – myocardial remodeling encompasses a balanced increase of the myocardial mass, enhanced myocardial contractility and neo-angiogenesis. Also, this physiologic remodeling seems to be mediated through distinct molecular pathways. Interestingly, physiologic remodeling does not generally lead to adverse consequences, but can even protect the heart against pathological stress such as myocardial injury or biomechanical strain.  Our lab is interested in understanding these mechanisms that mediate the cardiac benefits of exercise. We hope our research will provide new insights into physiological pathways controlling cardiomyocyte growth and function and that understanding the role of these pathways in pathological remodeling may lead to a foundation for novel therapeutic approaches in heart disease.

Vacancies

We constantly seek highly motivated candidates to strengthen our team.

Please contact Dr. Lerchenmüller for details and available research projects.