Michael V Zaragoza

Dr. Michael V. Zaragoza is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine with joint appointments in Biological Chemistry. He serves as faculty at the Center for Complex Biological Systems and the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.

His research investigates genetic heart diseases, particularly LMNA-related dilated cardiomyopathy, using patient-derived iPSC models to understand disease mechanisms. His laboratory integrates approaches from:

• Stem cell biology and differentiation protocols
• Single-cell transcriptomics and epigenomics
• Cardiac tissue engineering and biomechanics
• Computational biology and bioinformatics

Dr. Zaragoza's recent work has revealed how lamin A/C haploinsufficiency disrupts cardiac development programs through epigenetic dysregulation and cell lineage-specific gene expression changes. His NIH-funded research has identified epimutation hotspots in laminopathy patients and developed advanced database systems for managing multidimensional tissue engineering data.

He maintains active collaborations with bioengineers, computational biologists, and clinical researchers to translate basic science findings into potential therapeutic strategies for genetic cardiomyopathies.