Preventing Heartbreak

April 6, 2012

What does James N. Warnock do when he's not playing the guitar like Jack White? You might be surprised to learn that this rock-n-roller from the U.K. is one of Mississippi State's leading biomedical researchers. While he can play you Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" without batting an eye, his research program in the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering is focused on studying heart valve structure and the development of heart valve disease. This is an important area of research as heart valve disease accounts for >23,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. Of note, Dr. Warnock's research group is particularly interested in exploring how mechanical forces influence tissue remodeling. Heart valve remodeling is a natural part of growth, but aberrant remodeling is associated with heart valve disease. Dr. Warnock's lab is thus not interested in breaking hearts so much as keeping hearts from breaking...literally. Dr. Warnock utilizes a combination of molecular, physiological, and computational tools in his research, and he works closely with the IGBB in studying genes pathways involved in heart valve remodeling.

Click here for Dr. Warnock's biography and research articles.