The lab: Gotthardt group
We are interested in understanding how alternative splicing relates to diastolic heart failure, how increased filling of the cardiac ventricle leads to improved contraction. Our main translational focus is on harnessing alternative splicing to improve cardiac function using a pharmacological screen with custom splice reporter assays. This work aims to identify and characterize patients with splice related heart disease towards improved personalized diagnostics and therapy. The group consists of Groupleader MD, Technicians, Postdocs, PhD students, Master students of different nationalities (Germany, Spain, India, Indonesia) with ~50% male/female balance. The lab closely collaborates with the department of Cardiology on heart faiure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) – Prof. Burkert Pieske and Prof. Frank Heinzel.

The position
Cardiovascular disease remains the primary cause of death in the developed world. Notwithstanding improved prevention and therapy, the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise. The role of alternative splicing in cardiovascular disease has only recently been appreciated, with mutations in the splice factor RBM20 associated with particularly severe cardiac phenotypes, including early-onset sudden cardiac death.
Translating our findings to improve patient care, we will study (1) how alternative splicing is regulated in the heart, (2) how it contributes to cardiac adaptation in perinatal development versus myocardial disease and (3) how exon-level information across RNA species can be obtained, analyzed, and leveraged to improve personalized diagnosis of heart disease. Thus, we will evaluate how the cardiac splice regulatory network can be mined for novel therapeutic targets and utilized for the development of novel therapeutic approaches to cardiac disease.

Other positions
- IDIBAPS#4 – Mechanisms involved in strenuous exercise-induced atrial myocardial fibrosisDavid Brena2022-06-02T10:51:50+00:00
IDIBAPS#4 – Mechanisms involved in strenuous exercise-induced atrial myocardial fibrosis
- IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegenerationDavid Brena2022-05-18T16:35:32+00:00
IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegeneration
- IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patientsDavid Brena2022-05-18T16:17:43+00:00
IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patients
- IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumorsDavid Brena2022-05-25T10:09:18+00:00
IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumors
- IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitisDavid Brena2022-05-17T10:38:48+00:00
IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitis
- IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathiesDavid Brena2022-05-24T08:49:06+00:00
IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathies
- IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicineDavid Brena2022-05-17T10:37:53+00:00
IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicine
- BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive diseaseDavid Brena2022-05-12T16:57:52+00:00
BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive disease
- IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cellsemerald_SCS2022-05-17T13:59:30+00:00
IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cells
- MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biologyemerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:04:54+00:00
MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biology
- MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavioremerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:05:10+00:00
MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavior
- MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular diseaseemerald_SCS2022-05-17T12:05:25+00:00
MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular disease
- NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistanceemerald_SCS2022-05-19T08:58:30+00:00
NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistance
- VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseasesemerald_SCS2022-05-16T20:44:33+00:00
VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseases
- VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validationemerald_SCS2022-05-16T20:32:47+00:00
VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validation
- VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasisemerald_SCS2022-05-18T08:52:10+00:00
VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasis
- VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseasesemerald_SCS2022-05-16T19:39:35+00:00
VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseases
- VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCsemerald_SCS2022-05-18T08:43:51+00:00
VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCs
- VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerationemerald_SCS2022-05-16T19:54:56+00:00
VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration
- VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistanceemerald_SCS2022-05-15T23:07:12+00:00
VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistance
- VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosticsemerald_SCS2022-05-24T08:33:04+00:00
VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnostics
- BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavioremerald_SCS2022-05-19T18:49:58+00:00
BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavior
- BRIC#7 – Understanding and overcoming drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemiaemerald_SCS2022-05-24T08:43:03+00:00
BRIC#7 – Understanding and overcoming drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia