Harvey Lab

Discovering the effects of neurotransmitters and hormones on signaling mechanisms that may lead to the generation or prevention of heart arrhythmias.

Key areas of focus

  • Studying the effects that neurotransmitters and hormones have on signaling mechanisms.
  • Discovering the electrical and mechanical properties of isolated cardiac myocyte.
  • Special focus on how sympathetic stimulation may lead to the generation of arrhythmias, while parasympathetic stimulation may prevent them.

Lab team

Robert Harvey, Ph.D., chair and professor of pharmacology, studies the sympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system and the role it plays in heart arrythmias. Specifically, the Harvey Lab studies the relationship between neurotransmitters and hormones on signaling mechanisms, as well as the properties of isolated cardiac myocyte. Over time, the lab's goal is to understand how the sympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system may lead to the generation of arrhythmias for improved diagnosis, prevention and treatment.

  • Robert Harvey, Ph.D.: Principal Investigator

Notable research findings

  • Demonstrated that multiple receptors are capable of stimulating cAMP production in individual cardiac myocytes, but they do not all produce the same responses.
  • Found that intracellular cAMP signaling is compartmentalized. Using a combination of powerful fluorescence imaging and computational approaches, we have identified several factors that contribute to this complex behavior.
  • This information is relevant to understanding how heart disease disrupts normal sympathetic responses, leading to the generation of cardiac arrhythmias.

Equipment, technology and techniques

  • Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
  • IonOptix system
  • Patch-clamp electrophysiology
  • Raster imaging correlation spectroscopy (RICS)
  • Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP)
  • Generation of novel FRET-based biosensors
  • Computational modeling

Active grants and research projects

  1. cAMP Compartmentation in Cardiac Myocytes.
    • Award: R01 HL145778
    • Funding organization: National Institute of Health (NIH)
  2. Cellular Basis for Autonomic Regulation of Cardiac Arrhythmias.
    • Award: P01 HL164311
    • Funding organization: National Institute of Health (NIH)
  3. Nevada Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Molecular and Cellular Signal Transduction in the Cardiovascular System.
    • Award: P20 GM130459
    • Funding organization: National Institute of Health (NIH)