Portrait of Przemysław Radwanski

Przemysław Radwański, Pharm.D., Ph.D., FAHA, FHRS

Professor of Pharmacology

Summary

Research in the Radwański lab focuses on cardiac biophysics and pharmacology with the twin goals of understanding the mechanisms of life-threatening abnormal heart beats (cardiac arrhythmias), and developing effective antiarrhythmic therapies. By leveraging experience as both a clinical pharmacist and a cardiovascular researcher, and using cutting-edge biophysical approaches ranging from the single-ion channel level to the whole organism, we have identified a novel arrhythmia mechanism. Neuronal-type sodium channels account for a tiny fraction of sodium channels in the heart, but exert a disproportionately strong influence on cardiac calcium dynamics, particularly in disease. By applying pharmacology principles, in the context of this fundamental insight, we are developing novel therapeutic approaches, which effectively prevent arrhythmias, while avoiding the lethal side effects usually associated with classical antiarrhythmic agents. In essence, our approach could be summarized as better clinical outcomes through basic scientific insights.

Education

• Pharm.D., Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago
• PGY1 Pharmacy Residency, LDS Hospital/Intermountain Healthcare
• Ph.D., Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Utah
• Experimental Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy Fellowship, University of Utah
• Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Ohio State University

PubMed/Google Scholar

Books or chapters published

  1. King DR, Mezache L, Sedovy M, Radwański PB, Johnstone SR, Veeraraghavan R. Cell-Cell Communication in the Vascular Endothelium. In: Hund TJ and Parinandi NL, eds. Cardiovascular Signaling in Health and Disease. Springer Nature. 2022: 411-428.
  2. Liu B, Radwański PB, Györke S. Structural and Molecular Bases of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ion Channel Function. In: Zipes DP, Jalife J, eds. Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside. 8th Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2021: 63.-69.
  3. Liu B, Györke S, Radwański PB. Structural and Molecular Bases of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ion Channel Function. In: Zipes DP, Jalife J, eds. Cardiac Electrophysiology: From Cell to Bedside. 7th Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2017: 60-65.
  4. Munger MA, Radwański PB, Van Tassell BW. Digitalis. In: Fink MP, Abraham E, Vincent JL, Kochanek P, eds. Textbook of Critical Care. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2011: 1317-1321.

Original Research

  1. Tarasov M, Ammon M, Wirth JO, Hampton C, Selimi Z, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. Nanoscale organization in the cell membrane dynamically modulates the biophysics of voltage-gated sodium channels. Nat Commun. 2026 May 8: 216:1-12.
  2. Hamilton S, Terentyeva R, Veress R, Perger F, Loyo V, Gorr MW, Owusu-Sarfo J, Quiggle S, Gyorke S, Scherr D, Clements RT, Ljubojevic-Holzer S, Radwański PB, Singh H, Terentyev D, Belevych AE. Restoration of mitochondrial Ca2+ and redox homeostasis by enhancement of SK channels rescues Ca2+ cycling in HFpEF cardiomyocytes. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2026 May 8;216:1-12.
  3. Selimi Z, Tarasov M, Meng X, Dias P, Moise B, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. Selectivity filter mutation in NaV5 promotes ventricular tachycardia. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2026 Feb 5:S2405-500X(25)01118-1.
  4. Kim S, Welch L, Santos BL, Radwański PB, Munger MA, Kim K. Association of Ventricular Arrhythmias with Lamotrigine: An Observational Cohort Study. Sci Rep. 2025 Jun 4;15(1):19542.
  5. Dias P, Meng X, Selimi Z, Struckman H, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. Lamotrigine promotes reentrant ventricular tachycardia in murine hearts. 2025 May;66(5):1691-1702.
  6. Kim K, Kim S, Katana M, Terentyev D, Radwański PB*, Munger MA*. Riluzole is associated with reduced risk of heart failure. Eur J Neurol. 2025 Jan;32(1):e70033. *co-corresponding authors
  7. Kim K, Welch L, Keur J, Anderson H, Radwański PB, Munger MA. Ivabradine and Atrial Fibrillation Incidence: A Nested Matching Study. JACC Adv. 2025 Oct 28;4(12 Pt 2):102282..
  8. Kim S, Welch L, Santos BL, Radwański PB, Munger MA, Kim K. Association of atrial fibrillation with lamotrigine: An observational cohort study. Pharmacotherapy. 2025 Jan;45(1):20-32.
  9. Sarker J, Kim M, Patton S, Radwański PB, Munger MA, Kim K. Comparative Risk of the Onset of Atrial Fibrillation after Icosapent Ethyl versus Omega-3 –Acid-Ethyl-Esters Adjuvant to Statins. J Am Heart Assoc. 2025 Aug 5;14(15):e038846.
  10. King DR, Demirtas M, Tarasov M, Struckman HL, Meng X, Nassal D, Moise N, Miller A, Min D, Soltisz A, Anne MN, Dias PA, Wagnon JL, Weinberg SH, Hund TJ, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. Cardiac-Specific Deletion of Scn8a Mitigates Dravet Syndrome-Associated Sudden Death in Adults. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2024 May;10(5):829-842. doi: 10.1016/j.jacep.2024.01.003.
  11. Struckman HL, Moise N, King DR, Soltisz A, Buxton A, Dunlap I, Chen Z, Radwański PB, Weinberg SH, Veeraraghavan R. Unraveling Chamber-specific Differences in Intercalated Disc Ultrastructure and Molecular Organization and Their Impact on Cardiac Conduction. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2023 Jul 12:S2405-500X(23)00387-0.
  12. Tarasov M, Struckman HL, Olgar Y, Miller A, Demirtas M, Bogdanov V, Terentyeva R, Soltisz AM, Meng X, Min D, Sakuta G, Dunlap I, Duran AD, Foster MP, Davis JP, Terentyev D, Györke S, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. NaV6 dysregulation within myocardial T-tubules by D96V calmodulin enhances proarrhythmic sodium/calcium mishandling. J Clin Invest. 2023 Apr 3;133(7):e152071.
  13. Uddin ME, Eisenmann ED, Li Y, Huang KM, Garrison DA, Talebi Z, Gibson AA, Jin Y, Nepal M, Bonilla IM, Fu Q, Sun X, Millar A, Tarasov M, Jay CE, Cui X, Einolf HJ, Pelis RM, Smith SA, Radwański PB, Sweet DH, König J, Fromm MF, Carnes CA, Hu S, Sparreboom A. MATE1 Deficiency Exacerbates Dofetilide-Induced Proarrhythmia. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Aug 3;23(15):8607.
  14. Mezache L, Nuovo GJ, Suster D, Tili E, Awad H, Radwański PB, Veeraraghavan R. Histologic, viral, and molecular correlates of heart disease in fatal COVID-19. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2022 May 29;60:151983.
  15. Mezache L, Struckman HL, Greer-Short A, Baine S, Györke S, Radwański PB, Hund TJ, Veeraraghavan R. Vascular endothelial growth factor promotes atrial arrhythmias by inducing acute intercalated disk remodeling. Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 24;10(1):20463
  16. Baine S, Thomas J, Bonilla IM, Ivanova M, Belevych A, Li J, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB, Carnes CA, Gyorke S.. Muscarinic-dependent phosphorylation of the cardiac ryanodine receptor by protein kinase G is mediated by PI3K-AKT-nNOS signaling. J Biol Chem. 2020 Aug 14;295(33):11720-11728.
  17. Munger MA, Olğar Y, Koleske M, Struckman HL, Mandroli J, Lou Q, Bonilla I, Kim K, Mondragon RR, Priori SG, Volpe P, Valdivia HH, Biskupiak J, Carnes CA, Veeraraghavan R, Györke S, Radwański PB. Tetrodotoxin-sensitive neuronal-type Na+ Channels: A Novel and Druggable Target for Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Jun 2;9(11):e015119.
  18. Hamilton S, Terentyeva R, Martin B, Perger F, Li J, Stepanov A, Bonilla IM, Knollmann BC, Radwański PB, Györke S, Belevych AE, Terentyev D. Increased RyR2 Activity Is Exacerbated by Calcium Leak-Induced Mitochondrial ROS. Basic Res Cardiol. 2020 May 22;115(4):38.
  19. Struckman HL, Baine S, Thomas J, Mezache L, Mykytyn K, Györke S, Radwański PB*, Veeraraghavan R*. Super-resolution Imaging Using Novel High Fidelity Antibody Reveals Close Association of Neuronal Sodium Channel NaV6 with Ryanodine Receptors in Cardiac Muscle. Microsc Microanal. 2020 Feb;26(1):157-165. *Corresponding author
  20. Bonilla IM, Belevych AE, Baine S, Stepanov A, Mezache L, Bodnar T, Liu B, Volpe P, Priori S, Weisleder N, Sakuta G, Carnes CA, Radwański PB, Veeraraghavan R, Gyorke S. Enhancement of Cardiac Store Operated Calcium Entry (SOCE) within Novel Intercalated Disk Microdomains in Arrhythmic Disease. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 15;9(1):10179.
  21. Johnson CN, Pattanayek R, Potet F, Rebbeck RT, Blackwell DJ, Nikolaienko R, Sequeira V, Le Meur R, Radwański PB, Davis JP, Zima AV, Cornea RL, Damo SM, Györke S, George AL Jr, Knollmann BC.. The CaMKII inhibitor KN93-calmodulin interaction and implications for calmodulin tuning of NaV1.5 and RyR2 function. Cell Calcium. 2019 Jul 30;82:102063.
  22. Bress AP, Dodson JA, King JB, Sauer BC, Reese T, Crook J, Radwanski PB, Knippenberg K, Greene T, Nelson RE, Munger MA, Weintraub WS, Lafleur J. Clinical and economic outcomes of ranolazine versus conventional antianginals users among Veterans with chronic stable angina. Am J Cardiol. 2018 Dec 1;122(11):1809-1816.
  23. Koleske M, Bonilla I, Thomas J, Zaman N, Baine S, Knollmann BC, Veeraraghavan R, Györke S, Radwański PB. TTX-sensitive NaV Contribute to Early and Delayed Afterdepolarizations in Long QT Arrhythmia Models. J Gen Physiol. 2018 July 2; 150(7):991-1002.
  24. Liu B, Walton SD, Ho HT, Belevych AE, Tikunova SB, Bonilla I, Shettigar V, Knollmann BC, Priori SG, Volpe P, Radwański PB, Davis JP, Györke S. Gene transfer of engineered calmodulin alleviates ventricular arrhythmias in a calsequestrin-associated mouse model of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 May 2;7(10).
  25. Kubasov IV, Stepanov A, Bobkov D, Radwański PB, Terpilowski MA, Dobretsov M, Györke S. Sub-cellular Electrical Heterogeneity Revealed by Loose Patch Recording Reflects Differential Localization of Sarcolemmal Ion Channels in Intact Rat Hearts. Physiol. 2018;9:61.
  26. Ho HT, Belevych AE, Liu Bonilla IM, Radwański PB, Valdivia HH, Schober K, Carnes CA, Györke S. Muscarinic Stimulation Facilitates SR Ca2+ Release by Modulating RyR2 Phosphorylation Through PKG and CaMKII. Hypertension. 2016 Nov;68(5):1171-1178.
  27. Radwański PB*, Ho HT, Veeraraghavan R, Brunello L, Liu B, Belevych AE, Unudurthi SD, Makara MA, Priori SG, Volpe P, Armoundas AA, Dillmann WH, Knollmann BC, Mohler PJ, Hund TJ, Györke S*. Neuronal Na+ Channels Are Integral Components of Pro-arrhythmic Na+/Ca2+ Signaling Nanodomain That Promotes Cardiac Arrhythmias During β-adrenergic Stimulation. JACC:BTS. 1(4):261–276. *Corresponding author
  28. Glynn P, Musa H, Wu X, Unudurthi SD, Little S, Qian L, Wright PJ, Radwański PB, Gyorke S, Mohler PJ, and Hund TJ. Voltage-gated sodium channel phosphorylation at Ser571 regulates late current, arrhythmia, and cardiac function in vivo. Circulation. 2015 Aug 18;132(7):567-77.
  29. Radwański PB*, Brunello L, Veeraraghavan R, Ho HT, Lou Q, Makara MA, Belevych AE, Anghelescu M, Priori SG, Volpe P, Hund TJ, Janssen PM, Mohler P, Bridge JH, Poelzing S, Györke S*. Neuronal Na+ Channel Blockade Suppresses Arrhythmogenic Diastolic Ca2+ Cardiovasc Res. 2015 Apr 1;106(1):143-52. *Corresponding author
  30. Lou Q, Belevych AE, Radwański PB, Liu B, Kalyanasundaram A, Knollmann BC, Fedorov VV, Györke S. Alternating Vm/Ca interplay underlies repetitive focal activity in a genetic model of calcium-dependent atrial arrhythmias. J Physiol. 2015 Mar 15;593(6):1443-58.
  31. Munger MA, Radwański PB, Hadlock GC, Stoddard G, Shaaban A, Falconer J, Grainger DW, Deering-Rice CE. In Vivo Human Time-Exposure Study of Orally Dosed Commercial Silver Nanoparticles. 2014 Jan;10(1):1-9.
  32. Brunello L, Slabugh JL, Radwański PB, Ho HT, Belevych AE, et al. Decreased RyR2 refractoriness determines myocardial synchronization of aberrant Ca2+ release in a genetic model of arrhythmia.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(25):10312-7.
  33. Radwański PB, Greer-Short A, Poelzing S. Inhibition of Na+ Channels Ameliorates Arrhythmias in a Drug Induced Model of Andersen-Tawil Syndrome. Heart Rhythm. 2013;10(2):255-63.
  34. Radwański PB, Poelzing S. NCX is an Important Determinant for Premature Ventricular Activity in a Drug Induced Model of Andersen-Tawil Syndrome. Cardiovasc Res. 2011;92(1)57-66.
  35. Radwański PB, Veeraraghavan R, Poelzing S. Cytosolic Calcium Accumulation Underlies Ventricular Arrhythmias in Guinea Pig Ventricular Model of Andersen-Tawil Syndrome. Heart Rhythm. 2010;7(10):1428-1435.
  36. Metcalf CS, Radwański PB, Bealer SL. Status Epileptics Produces Chronic Alterations in Cardiac Symapthovagal Balance. Epilepsia. 2009;50(4):747-54.
  37. Vandeput F, Wolda SL, Krall J, Hambleton R, Uher L, McCaw KN, Radwański PB, Florio V, Movsesian MA. Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase PDE1C1 in human cardiac myocytes. J Biol Chem. 2007. 282:32749-57.

Reviews and editorials

  1. Hanna P, Boyle PM, Caldwell JL, El Refaey M, Goodyer WR, Khurshid S, Mesubi OO, Palatinus JA, Pfenniger A, Ajijola OA, Albert CM, Armoundas AA, Benjamin EJ, Clancy CE, Al-Khatib SM, Bilchick K, Delmar M, Donahue JK, Fishman GI, Goldenberg I, Gourdie RG, Huang DT, Knollmann BC, Ko D, Lubitz SA, Marchlinski FE, Marston NA, Moskowitz IP, Noseworthy PA, Prather RS, Radwański PB, Rajamani S, Rentschler S, Roden DM, Russo A, Saffitz JE, Sotoodehnia N, Webster G, Wu SM, Adhikari BB, Bandettini WP, Desvigne-Nickens P, Shanbhag SM, Schopfer D, Sopko G, Tjurmina OA, Balijepalli RC, McNally E, Shivkumar K. Prioritizing Discovery and Advancements in Arrhythmia Therapies: NIH/NHLBI Workshop. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2026 Jun;12(6):1445-1468.
  2. Moise N, Weinberg S, Radwański PB, Veeraraghavan R. The investigative power of direct and indirect correlative methods. The Journal of Precision Medicine: Health and Disease, 2026;100044.
  3. Marchianò S, Martín-Aragón Baudel M, Smith CER, Hernandez GH, Bers DM, Boyle PM, Dobrev D, Hamilton S, Harraz OF, Li N, Longden TA, Louch WE, Nieves-Cintron M, Nystoriak MA, Murfee WL, Radwański PB, Sonkusare SK, Navedo MF, Grandi E. Translating cardiovascular ion channel and Ca2+ signaling mechanisms into therapeutic insights. J Physiol. 2026 Jan 28. doi: 10.1113/JP290180.
  4. Kim S, Welch L, Santos BL, Radwański PB, Munger MA, Kim K. Response to comment on "Association of atrial fibrillation with lamotrigine: An observational cohort study." Pharmacotherapy. 2025 May 8.
  5. Selimi Z, Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. A Novel Computational Platform for Optimizing Synergistic Drug Combinations for Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. 2024 Nov 4:S2405-500X(24)00859-4.
  6. Radwański PB, Johnson CN, Györke S, Veeraraghavan R. Cardiac Arrhythmias as Manifestations of Nanopathies: An Emerging View. Physiol. 2018 Sep 4;9:1228.
  7. Veeraraghavan R, Radwański PB. Sodium channel clusters: harmonizing the cardiac conduction orchestra. J Physiol. 2018;596(4):549-550.
  8. Györke S, Belevych AE, Liu B, Kubasov IV, Carnes CA, Radwański PB. The Role of Luminal Ca Regulation in Ca Signaling Refractoriness and Cardiac Arrhythmogenesis. J Gen Physiol. 2017;149(9):877-888.
  9. Veeraraghavan R, Györke S, Radwański PB. Neuronal Sodium Channels: Emerging Components of the Nano-machinery of Cardiac Calcium Cycling. J Physiol. 2017;595(12):3823-3834.
  10. Belevych AE, Radwański PB, Carnes CA, Györke S. 'Ryanopathy': Causes and Manifestations of RyR2 Dysfunction in Heart Failure Cardiovasc Res. 2013; 98(2):240-7.
  11. Radwański PB, Brunello L, Belevych AE, Carnes CA, Györke S. Store-dependent Deactivation: Cooling the Chain-reaction of Myocardial Calcium Signaling. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2013;58:77-83.
  12. Van Tassell BW, Radwański PB, Movsesian M, Munger MA. Beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDEs) in chronic heart failure: Potential for combination therapy. Pharmacotherapy 2008;28(12):1523–1530.