Dr. Zhang’s research aims to reveal the molecular & cellular mechanisms and physiological and pathological roles of ion channels and transporters in excitable cells and organs with focus on the heart. Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States and causes more deaths than all cancers combined. Coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease, is accompanied by a major decline of local pH in myocardium, and an uncompensated fall in pH impairs cardiac function and triggers arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. However, the mechanisms of pH regulation and the homeostasis of H+ neutralizing buffers, such as HCO3-, in cardiomyocytes remain incompletely understood, making it difficult to design therapeutic strategies targeting pH regulation. The major goal of their study is to unravel the mechanisms of cardiac pH regulation in health and disease for identifying new molecular targets and therapeutic strategies.