معرفی
Ivy E. Dick, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her laboratory is located in Howard Hall Room 511B, with office space in BRB 5031. Dr. Dick leads a research team focused on understanding the biophysical properties of calcium channels and their role in both cardiac and neurological disorders.
Dr. Dick began her career as an electrophysiologist at Merck, where she characterized voltage-gated sodium channels. In 2004, she joined the Calcium Signals Lab at Johns Hopkins as a graduate student under Dr. David Yue, focusing on calmodulin regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels. After completing her PhD, she continued her research in the same lab as a post-doctoral researcher and later as a Research Associate before joining the University of Maryland faculty.
Dr. Dick's research centers on voltage-gated calcium channels (CaV), particularly their regulation by calmodulin and how disruptions in this regulation lead to channelopathies like Timothy Syndrome (LQT8). Her work examines the critical balance of calcium entry into heart, smooth muscle, and brain cells, focusing on the two major forms of feedback regulation: voltage-dependent inactivation (VDI) and calcium-dependent inactivation (CDI). Her laboratory employs a range of techniques including whole-cell and single-channel patch clamp electrophysiology, molecular biology, calcium and FRET imaging, tissue culture with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and CRISPR gene editing.
Analysis of Dr. Dick's recent publications reveals a strong focus on calcium channelopathies, particularly those involving CACNA1C (LQT8/Timothy Syndrome) and calmodulin mutations. Her work spans both cardiac and neurological manifestations of these channelopathies, with increasing use of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and neurons for disease modeling. Recent publications show expansion into gene editing approaches for rare disease modeling and potential therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Dick has received notable recognition for her work, including:
- Paul F. Cranefield Award from the Society of General Physiologists (2023) for the paper 'CaV1.2 channelopathic mutations evoke diverse pathophysiological mechanisms'
- John C. Hemmeter Scholar appointment (2016)
Dr. Dick has played a significant role in high-impact research, including work that contributed to re-examining the conviction of Kathleen Folbigg, who was convicted of murdering her children but may have had a genetic explanation related to calmodulin mutations. Her laboratory at the University of Maryland School of Medicine investigates the biology of excitable cells in both the heart and brain, with current projects using electrophysiological recording, patient-derived iPSCs, brain organoids, and calcium imaging.
The Dick laboratory is part of a collaborative research environment focused on understanding calcium dynamics in health and disease, with implications for disorders ranging from cardiac arrhythmias to schizophrenia. Her team works at the intersection of basic biophysics and clinical applications, aiming to translate mechanistic understanding into potential therapeutic interventions for calcium channelopathies.
