Dr. Stephanie Protze is an Assistant Professor at the University Health Network with expertise in Molecular Genetics. Her overarching goal involves developing new therapies to treat cardiovascular diseases. To this end, she employs a variety of experimental approaches ranging from cell biology and molecular genetics to genomics and electrophysiology. Her favorite model system is human pluripotent stem cells. Dr. Protze's current research focuses on cardiac pacemaker cells that regulate heartbeat, specifically through developmental biology-based approaches for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into sinoatrial and atrioventricular node pacemaker cells. Additionally, her lab is investigating the use of patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to establish in vitro models of pacemaker diseases, including congenital heart block. Through these studies, she aims to explore disease mechanisms and identify potential drug treatment targets. The lab also examines the application of stem cell-derived pacemaker populations in cell therapy approaches to treat heart rhythm disorders, utilizing electrophysiological assays to test the functionality of pacemaker cells in both vitro and in vivo pre-clinical animal models.