Researcher's Profile

Research interests: 

• Drug effects on cardiac conduction and repolarization
• Molecular basis of gating and ionic selectivity of voltage-gated sodium
• In-vivo cardiac electrophysiology in mouse models

Education:

• 1980-1987 Faculty of Medicine/University of Vienna.
• 1987- M.D.

Academic Positions:

• 1987-1993 Postdoctoral Fellow the Institute of Pharmacology of the University of Vienna. Research Topics: Mechanism of antiarrhythmic and arrhythmogenic drug action. Studies on the influence of psychtropic agents on cardiac conduction and repolarization.
• 1994- Clinical training at the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the University of Vienna.
• 1995-1997 Postdoctoral fellowship (funded by the Max-Kade Foundation) in the laboratory of Dr. Harry A Fozzard (Department of Cardiology and Departments of Pharmacology and Physiology of the University of Chicago, Chicago, Il, USA). Research topics: Structure-function studies of voltage gated sodium channels. Role of the channel outer vestibule in drug binding and slow channel inactivation.
• 1996- Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology

Completed projects as supervisor:

• Vaibhavkumar Shantaram GAWALI: The mechanism of interaction of local anesthetic drugs with voltage-gated sodium channels; finished 06/2016
• Peter LUKACS: Exploring the extracellular access pathway for charged local anaesthetics in voltage-gated sodium channels; finished 01/2016

Completed projects as co-supervisor:

• Song KE: Selectivity and conduction studies in bacterial voltage-gated sodium channels by molecular dynamics simulations; finished 03/2015
• Thomas STEINKELLNER:  Amphetamine action at dopamine and serotonin transporters is modulated by aCaMKII, finished 12/2013