Joseph D. Powers, PhD

Clinical and Research Background

Dr. Powers is a faculty member of the UW Center for Cardiovascular Biology on the South Lake Union campus. Research in the Powers Lab is centered around understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying various forms of heart diseases, with a focus on multi-scale biomechanics, mechanobiology, and biological structure. During each heartbeat, cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) experience a myriad of mechanical forces that originate from both within and outside of the cells. These forces are transmitted as mechanical signals between and within cardiomyocytes, where biological structures transduce them into responses that can affect numerous physiological processes from cell electrophysiology to cardiac contractility to hypertrophy. The Powers Lab integrates computational and experimental approaches using engineered rodent models and human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to reveal mechanosignaling pathways that are involved in cardiac dysfunction and remodeling, with the greater goal of informing the development of new therapies to treat heart diseases.