Our research is broadly focused on heart development and regenerative therapies to treat cardiovascular diseases. We are particularly interested in the cardiac pacemaker cells and electric conduction system that regulate the heartbeat. We use developmental biology approaches to establish strategies for the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into the cell types of the heart and cardiac conduction system, including sinoatrial node and atrioventricular node pacemaker cells. By using pluripotent stem cells as a developmental model system, we can obtain new insights into human heart development. In addition, we are establishing new in vitro models for conduction system diseases by applying our differentiation strategies to patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. These studies aim to identify disease mechanisms and potential treatment targets. Our biggest translational research goal is to pioneer the application of stem cell-derived pacemaker populations in cell therapy approaches to treat heart rhythm disorders. To this end, we are using electrophysiology assays to test the ability of the pacemaker cells to function as a biological pacemaker in vitro and in vivo in small and large pre-clinical animal models.