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Our Research Mission

We make discoveries of the human heart - transforming our understanding of the molecules present in the human heart and how they change in disease. This new insight fuels our understanding of disease processes and reveals untapped therapeutic targets. We are also developing new tools and reagents to promote the use of stem cell technologies for improved drug testing and disease modeling.



Living on the Edge (of the cell)

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We develop and apply innovative mass spectrometry (MS) technologies, bioinformatics tools, and methodologies to transform our understanding of cell surface glycoproteins and glycans and answer outstanding questions in stem cell biology and cardiac physiology & disease. We focus on the subset of molecules localized to the cell surface (i.e. the surfaceome), including transmembrane, GPI-anchored, and ECM proteins and glycans because these can be optimally exploited for immunophenotyping, drug targeting, and are critical players in normal cardiac function and disease.

Our platforms specifically promote the development of new reagents and strategies to:

1) promote the discovery of therapeutic and monitoring strategies for advanced heart failure.
2) improve the quality and homogeneity of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for research and clinical applications.


All Interdisciplinary, All the Time

Working at the interface of cellular and molecular cardiac physiology, analytical chemistry, and stem cell biology, our research studies the human heart in health and disease using primary human heart tissue, isolated human heart cells, and pluripotent stem cell derivatives. The major tools in our toolbox include protein biochemistry, mass spectrometry, proteomics, metabolomics, glycoproteomics, glycomics, chromatography, immunofluorescence imaging, and flow cytometry.

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Gundry lab mentees at the graduate student and post-doctoral level do all their own stunts. In short, mentees gain experience in all aspects of their projects - from sample generation (either cell culture or tissue isolation) to sample preparation for mass spectrometry, data acquisition (mass spectrometry and flow cytometry) all the way through to data analysis and bioinformatic processing for interpretation. We believe that hands-on experience in both the biological and analytical aspects provides tremendous benefits and opportunities for insights not otherwise likely.

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Mentoring is Serious Business

We aim to train the next generation of mass spectrometrists. Good training doesn’t happen by accident - we take a calculated and purposeful approach with every mentee we have the honor of hosting.
So far, Gundry lab mentees have received:

NIH F31 pre-doctoral fellowship • AHA pre-doctoral fellowship • CTSI pre-doctoral fellowship
• MCW Outstanding Dissertation Awards • ASMS Graduate Student Awards • ASMS Post-Doctoral Career Development Award • Travel awards to national/international conferences • Conference presentation awards