University of California-Davis · PharmacologyMolecular Heart Lab
Donald M Bers · Davis, California
Research Focus
Dr. Donald Bers' lab at UC Davis focuses on understanding the critical molecular mechanisms that lead to heart failure and arrhythmias, which are significant health issues worldwide. They investigate the role of proteins like the cardiac ryanodine receptor and CaMKII, using advanced techniques to explore how these proteins function under normal and pathological conditions. The ultimate goal is to develop new therapeutic strategies targeting these molecular mechanisms to improve heart health.
cardiac functionCaMKIIryanodine receptorheart failurearrhythmiascalmodulinpost-translational modificationsmolecular biophysicsdrug discoveryfluorescence resonance energy transfer
Research Aims
4AIM 01Characterize the dynamic regulation of ryanodine receptor by calmodulin in healthy and disease states.
AIM 02Investigate the structural and functional states of CaMKII under pathological conditions.
AIM 03Assess the role of specific post-translational modifications on CaMKII activity in cardiac myocytes.
AIM 04Evaluate the effects of novel therapeutics on ryanodine receptor dysfunction.
Skills the Lab Values
fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)confocal microscopyhigh-throughput screeningmolecular cloninganimal modelingcell cultureWestern blottingimmunostainingdata analysis using Pythonstructural biology techniques
Output against the department
Publications837top 3% of dept.15th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations62ktop 3% of dept.14th of 462
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.