New model translates heart research findings from animals to humans
A team of UC Davis Health scientists has developed a new predictive model that translates cardiac research findings across different animal species into human-specific insights. This model could help accelerate the drug development process, leading to new therapies for heart diseases, such as irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).
In their paper published today in Science Advances, the researchers presented a set of translators for mapping the electric activity of mouse, rabbit, and human cardiac cells.
“The combined efforts of basic, translational, and clinical research have greatly helped our understanding of disease mechanisms over recent decades, but many challenges still exist,” said Stefano Morotti, assistant professor in pharmacology at UC Davis School of Medicine and the leading author on the study. “One main challenge is translating the findings of tests and trials in animal models to human applications.”