The Barefield Lab studies to role of atrial dysfunction in the development of heart disease.  For Primary Atrial Myopathy, we study regulatory genes that are specific or enriched in the atria that can cause an atrial-specific loss of cardiac function.  For Secondary Atrial Myopathy, we study how the atria functions in the presence of pathological gene mutations that cause inherited cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia, and the contribution of atrial dysfunction to whole-heart function.  

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       The lab's major projects include studying 1) studying the role of the novel atrial myofilament protein myosin binding protein H-like (MyBP-HL); 2) how atrial contractility is dysregulated in atrial fibrillation and atrial stunning; 3) the contractile function of cardiomyocytes in the ventricular conduction system.  We use mouse and cell culture models to study disease, as well as computational approaches to evaluate RNA-Sequencing and mass spectrometry data and large public data sets to evaluate the genetic links of atrial myopathy.

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    The Barefield Lab is now hiring a postdoctoral fellow in support of the lab's recently funded R01 (HL181346).  Candidates should be pending or recent graduates of a PhD program, broadly within biomedical research, and excited to contribute to a dynamic and emerging sub-field in cardiac physiology.  Please send a CV and Cover Letter to Dr. Barefield.