Magdaléna Harakalová

I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Cardiology and the Regenerative Medicine Utrecht (RMU) center at UMCU. As a principal investigator, I am leading an independent research line that is based on a clear need from clinics: the identification of molecular mechanisms in carriers of genetic mutations who are at risk of developing genetic cardiomyopathies. My overarching research question is: Why is DNA not the heart’s destiny? - I study the chronological effects of a DNA mutation on the level of DNA/chromatin/RNA/protein but also cellular organelles, whole cells, tissue and the human organism. I aim to redefine cardiomyopathies on a personalized level and design diagnostic, preventive, and treatment strategies with the ultimate goal to timely predict and eradicate them. I use human cardiac tissue and patient-derived human iPSC-cardiomyocyte (hiPSC-CMs) models to investigate cardiomyopathy heterogeneity through next-generation sequencing-based -omics techniques, bioinformatics, high-resolution imaging, and functional studies. I have a medical background but I decided to work as a full-time scientist because I felt that progress made in fundamental research does not reach clinics fast enough.