Warren Heideman, professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, has been awarded a 5-year competing renewal from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for his long-running research on heart defects.

The work will identify mechanisms by which toxic compounds disrupt heart development, and explores the possibility that these compounds alter not only epicardial cell function in the developing heart, but also block regeneration and transplantation of embryonic cells into a wounded adult heart. The project will be based on the zebrafish, Danio rerio, an important non-human model system widely used for studying heart development. Richard Peterson, professor and Division Chair in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, serves as co-PI on the collaborative project.