Dr. Ryan M. Rich, assistant professor of physics at Texas Wesleyan University, is employing new microscopy techniques in living heart tissue to better understand the effects of Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.

“Our goal is to understand how genetic mutations linked to FHC affect the dynamics of cardiac muscle contraction at the molecular level," Rich said. "By analyzing the interactions between polarized light and motor molecules, we can deduce the molecular dynamics within living, diseased heart tissue."

You can read about Dr. Rich’s work with collaborators at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology.