The integrative role of FIH-1 in HIF-dependent oxygen sensing of cardiac cells

After completing a PhD at the University of Leeds, Jo trained as a British Heart Foundation-funded postdoc in the labs of Professor Jon Kentish and Professor Ajay Shah at King's College London. There she investigated the intracellular mechanisms governing changes in contractility in healthy and diseased myocardium. Jo took a seven-year career break to look after her two children and recently returned to academic life at the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. Her research examines how hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) and factor inhibiting HIF-1 (FIH-1) influence the contractile and metabolic responses to hypoxia in cardiac cells. During her Fellowship Jo will combine her primary research interests in cardiac physiology with assessment of cardiac metabolism (with Dr Mark Cole) and manipulation of the HIF system in cultured myocytes (with Professor Chris Denning). This integrated approach will promote a greater understanding of hypoxic signalling in the heart and investigate novel therapeutic options for cardiac disease.