Ioannis Karakikes
Assistant Professor
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Home Programs: Biology, Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Research
Categories: Human Disease, Stem Cell Biology
Interests: cell and tissue form and function, developmental disorders, disease, gene editing, gene expression and regulation, genetic pathways of disease, pathogenesis
Opportunities
Location: On-Site
Duration: 2+ Years
Career Stage of Trainees: Postbaccalaureate, Post-master's, Postdoctorate
Available now
Funding
Diversity Supplement: National Institutes of Health
Eligible Grant: R01
Associated Institute: NHLBI
The Karakikes Lab aims to uncover fundamental new insights into the molecular mechanisms and functional consequences of pathogenic mutations associated with familial cardiovascular diseases.
Our studies aim to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of familial cardiomyopathies, such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) and Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM). We utilize isogenic patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a platform for disease modeling to gain insights into how rare mutations affect cardiomyocyte biology and cardiac performance. By establishing a deep understanding of the biology of the disease, our studies represent the first definitive step in elucidating the genotype-phenotype associations in HCM and DCM toward applying a precision medicine approach to the treatment of cardiomyopathies.
