Michigan Technological University · BiologyLarson Cardiology Lab
Robert Arnold Larson · Houghton, Michigan
Research Focus
Dr. Robert Arnold Larson's lab at Michigan Technological University studies hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is a common genetic heart disease linked to serious complications like sudden cardiac death. The lab aims to understand how dysfunctional sensory nerves in the heart contribute to disease progression and explore innovative therapies that could modify the disease. They use animal models to investigate the underlying mechanisms and test potential new treatments.
Hypertrophic CardiomyopathySensory Nerve DysregulationCardiac PhysiologySympathetic ActivityMetabolic Dysfunction
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate how cardiac spinal afferents contribute to sympathetic nerve activity in HCM.
AIM 02Determine the role of ASIC3 in sensory nerve responses in HCM mice.
AIM 03Evaluate the effects of cardiac nerve ablation on heart function in an HCM model.
Skills the Lab Values
Mouse modelsCardiac nerve ablationBehavioral assaysBiochemical assaysData analysis in R/Python
Output against the department
Publications58bottom 14% of dept.883rd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations633bottom 3% of dept.1,005th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.