BME Seminar Series: Dr. Crystal Ripplinger, UC Davis

*This event will be 100% virtual*

Crystal M. Ripplinger, PhD, FHRS, FAHA
Professor and Vice Chair for Research & Administration
Department of Pharmacology
UC Davis School of Medicine

Abstract:

"Fight or flight? Friend or foe? Everything you need to know about the sympathetic nervous system and cardiac rhythm”

The sympathetic nervous system plays a key role in normal control of cardiac rate, rhythm, and contractility, but may also be a trigger for lethal cardiac arrhythmias. Remodeling of the sympathetic nervous system occurs in nearly every form of cardiovascular disease, and these changes may be both adaptive and maladaptive. This talk will highlight key aspects of sympathetic remodeling following myocardial infarction, how the heart responds to this remodeling, and whether we can target the sympathetic nervous system for effective anti-arrhythmic treatment.

Bio:

Dr. Crystal Ripplinger is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research and Administration in the Department of Pharmacology at UC Davis.  She received her BS degree in Electrical Engineering from North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota.  She subsequently earned her MS and PhD degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.  After spending time as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, she was appointed in 2010 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at UC Davis.  She was appointed as Vice Chair for Research and Administration in 2017, and in 2019 served as Acting Department Chair.  Dr. Ripplinger's research focusses on the role of the autonomic nervous system in influencing cardiac electrophysiology and contributing to ventricular arrhythmias.  Her work uses state-of-the-art optical imaging and neuro-modulatory approaches in animal models of cardiovascular disease to assess the impact of autonomic input to the heart.