The Johnson Laboratory: From Atoms to Hearts to Health (AH₂)

We study atoms to understand hearts and improve human health.

Dr. Johnson is a structural biologist that utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to understand how calcium sensitive proteins and enzymes modify or tune the function of ion channels. Working at the interface of science and medicine, his research combines structural biology, biophysics, and electrophysiology to understand how the intracellular calcium sensing protein “calmodulin” senses changes in calcium concentration and modifies protein-protein interactions. Their team is actively investigating how ion channel - accessory protein interactions, post-tranlational modification and local environment help or hinder an ion to pass through a channel pore.   By developing a detailed understanding of structure (NMR), function (whole cell patch clamp), and timing (stopped-flow), they seek to: (i) understand mechanisms that govern physiology, and genetically driven channelopathies, (ii) develop small molecule probes that test their models, and (iii) explore novel strategies for treating excitable cell disease.

A newly renovated fishbowl style office allows Dr. Johnson to stay in the lab and work with his team at the bench.

An open floor concept arrangement allows team members to routinely interact with other aspects of each project. This encourages integration of technique and interdisciplinary data awareness.

Specialized microscopes allow for investigation of ion channel function and calcium signaling.

A new 800MHz NMR joins the fleet (600MHz, 500 MHz and 300 MHz), and opens up new opportunities for advanced structural and biophysical characterization.

2026

35. A model for the complete sequence of the human voltage-gated calcium channel (Ca_V1.2) in a lipid bilayer. Spencer K. Lile, Caden J. McGarity, Emily M. Campbell Steven R. Gwaltney and Christopher N. Johnson. (2026) Cell Calcium - manuscript accepted

2025

34. Molecular interactions of the Na_V1.5 C-terminal domain: CaM sequestered the IQ motif from the CTD. Rita F. Gyawu, Torien M. Beard, Svetlana Tikunova, Sara A. Garcia, Garrett M. Knotts, Taylor A. Agee, Md Nure Alam     Afsar, Brett Kroncke, Jarrod Smith, Jonathan Davis and ^*Christopher N. Johnson Journal of Biological Chemistry

33. Characterization of the SCN4A/E452K variant in myotonia and paramyotonia congenita: Biophysical properties and structural implications. Quentin Plumereau, Spencer Lile, Christopher Johnson, Mohamed Chahine. Scientific Reports

32. Hypercontractility and Oxidative Stress Drive Creatine Kinase Dysfunction in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Anton Xu, David Weissman, Katharina Ermer, Edoardo Bertero, Jan Federspiel, Felix Stadler, Elisa Grünler, Melina Tangos, Sevasti Zervou, Mark Waddingham, James Pearson, Jan- Reil, Smita Scholtz, Jan Dudek, Michael Kohlhaas, Alexander Nickel, Lucie Carrier, Thomas Eschenhagen, Michelle Michels, Cristobal dos Remedios, Sean Lal, Leticia Prates Roma, Nazha Hamdani, Diederik Kuster, Inês Falcão-Pires, Christopher Johnson, Craig  Lygate, Jolanda van der Velden, Christoph Maack, and Vasco Sequeira, Circulation

31. Calmodulin Enhancement of Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter Function in Isolated Mitochondria. Sara A. Garcia, Anne M. Neumaier, Anton Xu, Katharina Ermer, Alexander Nickel, Vasco Sequeira, Christoph Maack, and  Christopher N. Johnson. (2025) Cell Calcium, July 19, 103056.

30. Potential C-terminal domain interactions of the cardiac voltage gated sodium channel. Spencer K. Lile, Emily M. Campbell, Rita F. Gyawu, Jarrod A. Smith, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson (2025) Scientific Reports 15:14100  doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-98912-1.

29. Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) lines from patients with extreme high and low polygenic scores for QT interval. Devyn Mitchell, Rizwan Ullah, Loren Vanags, Alex Shen, Luke Jones, William Morris, Matthew J O’Neill, Giovanni Davogustto, Christian Shaffer, Dan Roden, Ben Shoemaker, Hollie Williams, Teresa Strickland, Taylor Agee, Christopher Johnson, Brett Kroncke (2025) Stem Cell Research DOI: 10.1016/j.scr.2025103691

28. All atom model of the human cardiac sodium channel in a lipid bilayer. GM Knotts, SK Lile, EM Campbell, TA Agee, SD Liyanage, SR Gwaltney and CN Johnson. (2024) Scientific Reports 14 (1), 26857.

2024

27. Quantification of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca2+ release in primary Ventricular Cardiomyocytes Md. A. Afsar, M. Akter, C.Y. Ko, V. Sequeira, Y Olgar, C.N. Johnson, (2024) Current Protocols in Pharmacology 4, e70048 DOI 10.1002/cpz.70048

26. Assays of Variant Effect and Automated Patch Clamping Improve KCNH2-LQTS Variant Classification and Cardiac
Event Risk Stratification. Matthew J O’Neill, Chai-Ann Ng, Takanori Aizawa, Luca Sala, Sahej Bains, Annika Winbo, Rizwan Ullah, Qianyi Shen, Chek-Ying Tan, Krystian Kozek, Loren R Vanags, Devyn W Mitchell, Alex Shen, Yuko Wada, Asami Kashiwa, Lia Crotti, Federica Dagradi, Giulia Musu, Carla Spazzolini, Raquel Neves, J Martijn Bos, John R Giudicessi, Xavier Bledsoe, Eric R Gamazon, Megan C Lancaster, Andrew M Glazer, Bjorn C Knollmann, Dan M Roden, Jochen Weile, Frederick Roth, Joe-Elie Salem, Nikki Earle, Rachael Stiles, Taylor Agee, Christopher N Johnson, Minoru Horie, Jonathan Skinner, Michael J Ackerman, Peter J Schwartz, Seiko Ohno, Jamie I Vandenberg, Brett M Kroncke. (2024) Circulation DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.069828

2023

25. Human disease-associated calmodulin mutations alter calcineurin function through multiple mechanisms. RB Williams, MD NA Afsar, S Tikunova, Y Kou, X Fang, RP Somarathne, RF Gyawu, GM Knotts, TA Agee, SA Garcia, LD Losordo, NC Fitzkee, PM Kekenes-Huskey, JP Davis, and CN Johnson. (2023) Cell Calcium DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2023.102752

2022

24. Editorial: Bridging Techniques: Basic Science of Molecules, Cellular Systems, and Whole-Organ Physiology. Robert Szulcek, Christopher N. Johnson, James Todd Pearson, and Vasco Sequeira. (2022) Frontiers in Physiology DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.879396

2021

23. A Review of Calcineurin Biophysics with Implications for Cardiac Physiology. Williams, R.B.; Johnson, C.N. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2021), 22, 11565.

22. Non-Canonical Interaction between Calmodulin and Calcineurin Contributes to the Differential Regulation of Plant- Derived Calmodulins on Calcineurin Bin Sun, Xuan Fang, Christopher N. Johnson, Garrett Hauck, Youngjun Kou, Jonathan P. Davis Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey (2021) J. Chem. Inf. Model. 61, (10) 5223-5233.

2020

21. Walter J. Chazin^ and Christopher N. Johnson^. (2020) Calmodulin Mutations Associated with Heart Arrhythmia: A Status Report. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Feb 12th 21, 1418. ^corresponding authors

20. D. Julia Trembinski, Janina Sommer, Ariane Fischer, Chao-Chung Kuo, Ivan G. Costa, Christopher N. Johnson, Alexander Spring-Connell, Manuel Kaulich, Stanislas Werfel, Stefan Engelhardt, Marc N. Hirt, Kaja Yorgan, Thomas Eschenhagen, Luisa Kirchhof, Patrick Hofmann, Nazha Hamdani, Corinne Bischof, Jaya Krishnan, Riekelt H. Houtkooper, Stefanie Dimmeler, Reinier A. Boon (2020), Sarrah is an Aging-Regulated Anti-Apoptotic Long Non-Coding RNA in Cardiomyocytes Augmenting Recovery from Acute Myocardial Infarction. Nature Communications, April 27th, (11) 2039.

19. Josine M. de Winter, Joery P. Molenaar, Michaela Yuen, Robbert van der Pijl, Shen Shengyi, Stefan Conijn, Menne Willigenburg, Sylvia J.P. Bogaards, Esmee van Kleef, Saskia Lassche, Malin Persson, Dilson Rassier, Tamar E. Sztal, Avnika A. Ruparelia, Robert J. Bryson-Richardson, Christopher N. Johnson, Manuela Marabita, Bert Blaauw, Richard J. Rodenburg, Benno Kϋsters, Jonne Doorduin, Alan H Beggs, Henk Granzier, Ken Campbell, Weikang Ma, Thomas Irving, Edoardo Malfatti, Norma Romero, Baziel G.M. van Engelen, Nicol C. Voermans, and Coen A.C. Ottenheijm (2020). Thin filament-based impaired muscle relaxation kinetics in KBTBD13-related nemaline myopathy (NEM6). Journal of Clinical Investigation, 130(2): 754-767.

2019

18. ^Christopher N. Johnson, Rekha Pattanayek, Franck Potet, Robyn T. Rebbeck, Daniel J. Blackwell, Roman Nikolaienko, Vasco Sequeira, Remy Le Meur, Przemysław B. Radwański, Jonathan P. Davis, Aleksey V. Zima, Razvan L. Cornea, Steven M. Damo, Sandor Györke, Alfred L. George Jr. and Bjorn C. Knollmann (2019). The CaMKII inhibitor KN93-calmodulin interaction and implications for calmodulin tuning of NaV1.5 and RyR2 function. Cell Calcium, 82 102063.                 ^corresponding author

17. Lisa M. Wren, Juan Jiménez-Jáimez, Zahurul A. Buihyan, Saleh Al-Ghamdi, Jumana Y. Al-Aama, Zuhair Al-Hassnan, Roger Y. Foo, Franck Potet, Christopher N. Johnson, Miriam C. Aziz, Gemma L. Carvill, Juan-Pablo Kaski, Lia Crotti, Francesca Perin, Lorenzo Monserrat, Paul W. Burridge, Peter J. Schwartz, Walter J. Chazin, Alfred L. George, Jr. (2019). Genetic Mosaicism in Calmodulinopathies. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, 12(9) 375-385.

16. ^Christopher N. Johnson (2019). Calcium modulation of cardiac sodium channels. Journal of Physiology, Feb 1, doi.org/10.1113/JP277553.         ^corresponding author

2018

15. Przemysław B. Radwański, Christopher N. Johnson, Sándor Györke Rengasayee Veeraraghavan (2018). Cardiac Arrhythmias as Manifestations of Nanopathies: An Emerging View, Frontiers in Physiology, Sept 9: 1228.

14. ^Christopher N. Johnson, Franck Potet, Matthew K. Thompson, Brett M. Kroncke, Andrew M. Glazer, Markus W. Voehler, Bjorn C. Knollmann, Alfred L. George, Jr., and ^Walter J. Chazin (2018). A Mechanism of Calmodulin Modulation of the Human Cardiac Sodium Channel. Structure, Mar 28, 683-694. ^corresponding authors

2017

13. Walweel K, Gomez-Hurtado N, Oo YW, Beard NA, Dos Remedios C, Johnson CN, Chazin WJ, van Helden DF, Knollmann BC, Laver DR (2017). Calmodulin Mutants Linked to Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Fail to Inhibit Human RyR2 Channels. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., Jul 4; 70(1):115-117.

2016

12. Pipilas DC, Johnson CN, Webster G, Schlaepfer J, Fellmann F, Sekarski N, Wren LM, Ogorodnik KV, Chazin DM, Chazin WJ, Crotti L, Bhuiyan ZA, George AL Jr. (2016) Novel calmodulin mutations associated with congenital long QT syndrome affect calcium current in human cardiomyocytes. Heart Rhythm, Oct;13(10):2012-9.

11. Gomez-Hurtado N, Boczek NJ, Kryshtal DO, Johnson CN, Sun J, Nitu FR, Cornea RL, Chazin WJ, Calvert ML, Tester DJ, Ackerman MJ, Knollmann BC. (2016) Novel CPVT-Associated Calmodulin Mutation in CALM3 (CALM3-A103V) Activates Arrhythmogenic Ca Waves and Sparks. Circ. Arrhythm. Electrophysiol. Aug;9(8)

10. Boczek NJ, Gomez-Hurtado N, Ye D, Calvert ML, Tester DJ, Kryshtal DO, Hwang HS, Johnson CN, Chazin WJ, Loporcaro CG, Shah M, Papez AL, Lau YR, Kanter R, Knollmann BC, Ackerman MJ. (2016) Spectrum and Prevalence of CALM1-, CALM2-, and CALM3-Encoded Calmodulin Variants in Long QT Syndrome and Functional Characterization of a Novel Long QT Syndrome-Associated Calmodulin Missense Variant, E141G. Circ. Cardiovasc. Genet., Apr;9(2):136-46.

2014

9. Makita N*, Yagihara N*, Crotti L*, Johnson CN*, Beckmann BM, Roh MS, Shigemizu D, Lichtner P, Ishikawa T, Aiba T, Homfray T, Behr ER, Klug D, Denjoy I, Mastantuono E, Theisen D, Tsunoda T, Satake W, Toda T, Nakagawa H, Tsuji Y, Tsuchiya T, Yamamoto H, Miyamoto Y, Endo N, Kimura A, Ozaki K, Motomura H, Suda K, Tanaka T, Schwartz PJ, Meitinger T, Kääb S, Guicheney P, Shimizu W, Bhuiyan ZA, Watanabe H, Chazin WJ, George AL Jr. (2014) Novel calmodulin mutations associated with congenital arrhythmia susceptibility. Circ. Cardiovasc Genet., Aug;7(4):466-74.  *Authors contributed equally to this work

8. Johnson C.N., Damo S.M., Chazin W.J., EF-hand Calcium Binding Proteins (2014) Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003056.pub3

7. Hwang HS, Nitu FR, Yang Y, Walweel K, Pereira L, Johnson CN, Faggioni M, Chazin WJ, Laver D, George AL Jr, Cornea RL, Bers DM, Knollmann BC. (2014) Divergent regulation of ryanodine receptor 2 calcium release channels by arrhythmogenic human calmodulin missense mutants. Circ. Res. 2014 Mar 28; 114(7):1114-24.

2013

6. Crotti L, Johnson CN, Graf E, De Ferrari GM, Cuneo BF, Ovadia M, Papagiannis J, Feldkamp MD, Rathi SG, Kunic JD, Pedrazzini M, Wieland T, Lichtner P, Beckmann BM, Clark T, Shaffer C, Benson DW, Kääb S, Meitinger T, Strom TM, Chazin WJ, Schwartz PJ, George AL Jr. (2013) Calmodulin mutations associated with recurrent cardiac arrest in infants. Circulation, 127 (9):1009-17.

2012

5. Germann M., Johnson C., Spring A. (2012) Recognition of damaged DNA: structure and dynamic markers, Med. Res. Rev. 32, 659-683.

2011

4. Johnson C. N., Spring A. M., Desai S., Cunningham R. P., Germann M. W. (2011) DNA sequence context conceals alpha anomeric lesions, J. Mol. Biol., 416, 425-437.

3. +Johnson C. N., Spring A. M., Shaw B. R., Germann M. W. (2011) Structural basis of the RNase H1 activity on stereo regular borano phosphonate DNA / RNA hybrids, Biochemistry, 50, 3903-3912. +Abstract featured in Global Medical Discovery

2009

2. Germann M. W., Johnson C. N., Spring A. M. (2009) Unusual DNA structure and DNA damage recognition: structure and dynamic markers, CHIMIA, 63, 731-736.

1. Mazurek A., Johnson C. N., Germann M. W., and Fishel, R. (2009) Sequence context effect for hMSH2-hMSH6 mismatched- dependent activation, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 106, 4177-4182.

Johnson laboratory graduate student team (blue)  undergraduate students (blue)

2025

Gordon Conference: Excitation Contraction Coupling: All-Atom Ion Channel Models Explore Allosteric Communication Between Cytosol and Transmembrane Helices.  Spencer Lile, Garrett Knots, Vineeth Vanga, Caden McGarity, Randy Kubi, Jarrod Smith and Christopher N. Johnson, Barcelona Spain.

Gordon Conference: Excitation Contraction Coupling: Quantification of SR Ca²⁺ release at multiple free [Ca²⁺] interrogated the effects of RyR2 phosphorylation on Ca²⁺ induced Ca²⁺ release (CICR). Md Nure Alam Afsar, Mahmuda Akter, and Christopher N. Johnson Barcelona Spain.

International Society for Heart Research - World Congress: Alterations to SR Ca²⁺ Release and Potential Rescue by Kavalactones. Md Nure Alam Afsar, Mahmuda Akter, Deb Arpita, Barbara Kaplan, Tengfei Bian, Xing Chengguo, and Christopher N. Johnson, Nara Japan.

International Society for Heart Research - World Congress: Structural Differences Between Full Sequence Models of Na_Vs. Spencer K. Lile, Randy K. Appiah, Emily M. Campbell, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson, Nara Japan.

International Biophysical Society Conference: Improved Descriptions of Voltage Gated Sodium Channel C Terminal Domain Interactions. Spencer K. Lile, Garrett M. Knotts, Emily M. Campbell, Rita F. Gyawu, Jarrod A. Smith, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson. Los Angeles CA.

International Biophysical Society Conference: Quantifying the Effects of Kavalactones on Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Ca²⁺ Release in Permeabilized Cardiomyocytes Mahmuda Akter, Md Nure Alam Afsar, Bian Tengfei, Vasco Sequeira, Chengguo Xing, and Christopher N. Johnson Los Angeles CA.

2024

International Biophysical Society Conference: Insight into the Biophysical Nature of Calmodulin through the Lens of Disease Associated Mutations. Sara A. Garcia, Justin R. Lovett, Emily M. Campbell, and Christopher N. Johnson, Philadelphia PA.

International Biophysical Society Conference: An All Atom Model of a Voltage Gated Calcium Channel with Explicit Salt and Water. Emily M. Campbell , Steven R. Gwaltney ¹, and Christopher N. Johnson. Philadelphia PA.

International Biophysical Society Conference. Engineering point mutations in Calmodulin to fine-tune calcium release properties of Ryanodine Receptor Type II (RyR2). Md Nure Alam Afsar, Vladimir Bogdanov, Svetlana Tikunova, Mahmuda Akter, Jonathan P. Davis and Christopher N. Johnson, Philadelphia PA.

International Biophysical Society Conference: An All Atom Model of a Voltage Gated Calcium Channel with Explicit Salt and Water. Garrett M. Knotts, Spencer K. Lile, Emily M. Campbell, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson, Philadelphia PA.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: Differences in Sodium Channel Inactivation Gate Sequences Provide Insight into Channel Tuning. Rita F. Gyawu, Justin R. Lovett, Taylor A. Agee, Emily M. Campbell, Spencer K. Lile, Garrett M. Knotts,  Johnathan P. Davis and Christopher N. Johnson, New London NH.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: A multidisciplinary approach for investigating communication between cytosolic components and ion channel conduction. Emily M. Campbell, Rita F. Gyawu, Sara A. Garcia, Taylor A. Agee, Garrett M. Knotts and Christopher N. Johnson. New London NH.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: A His Button on Na_V1.5 Modifies Ion Channel Accessory Protein Interaction and Gating in Response to Changes in Intracellular pH. Taylor Agee, Sara Garcia, Garrett Knotts, Christopher N. Johnson, New London NH.

South Eastern Meeting of American Chemical Society: Exploring Calcium-mediated phosphorylation status of RyR2 and potential contribution to cardiac disease. Md Nure Alam Afsar, Mahmuda Akter, and Christopher N. Johnson, Atlanta GA

South Eastern Meeting of American Chemical Society: Defining the calmodulin-sodium channel interactions and evaluating potential for harnessing as a means of therapeutic intervention. Rita F. Gyawu, Justin R. Lovett, Taylor A. Agee, Johnathan P. Davis and Christopher N. Johnson, Atlanta GA

European Muscle Conference: Calmodulin enhanced myofilament function; potential for a novel interaction with cardiac myofillament protein(s)? Maicon L. Vieria, Jose R. Pinto, Weikang Ma, Jolanda van der Velden, Thomas Irving, Vasco Sequeira, and Christopher N. Johnson, Ljubljana Slovenia.

International Society for Heart Research: All Atom Models of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels (Na_V1.5 and Ca_V1.2) in Lipid Bilayers. Emily M. Campbell, Spencer K. Lile, Garrett M. Knotts, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson, Toulouse France.

2023

International Biophysical Society Conference: Human Disease Associated Calmodulin Mutations Alter Calcineurin Function Through Multiple Mechanisms. MD Nure Alam Afsar, Ryan B. Williams, Svetlana Tikunova, Yongjun Kou, Xuan Fang, Radha P. Somarathne, Rita F. Gyawu, Garrett M. Knotts, Taylor A. Agee, Sara A. Garcia, Nicholas C. Fitzkee, Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey, Jonathan P. Davis, and Christopher N. Johnson, San Diego, CA

International Biophysical Society Conference: Insight into sodium channel calcium sensing and mechanisms of gating modification. Rita F. Gyawu, Garrett M. Knotts, Bailey S. Herring, Torien M. Beard, MNA Afsar, Taylor A. Agee, Jarrod A. Smith, Brett Kroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson San Diego, CA.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: An Atomistic Description of the Human Cardiac Sodium Channel in a Lipid Membrane with insights into B-subunit modification. Bailey S. Herring, Kelsei Elmore, Garrett Knotts, Jarrod Smith, Steven R. Gwaltney, Christopher N. Johnson, New Haven NH.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: Insight into the assemble of the cardiac sodium channel calcium sensing apparatus and mechanisms of gating modification. Rita F. Gyawu, Torien M. Beard, MNA Afsar, Taylor A. Agee, Jarrod A. Smith, Brett Kroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson, New Haven NH.

Gordon Conference: Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms: Insight into Calmodulin signal transduction and "potential" contributions to the cardiac Calmodulinopathy phenotype. Taylor A. Agee, Ryan B. Williams, Md. Nure Alam Afsar, Yongjun Kou, Svetlana Tikunova, Jonathan P. Davis, and Christopher N. Johnson, New Haven NH.

International Society for Heart Research World Congress: Solution NMR reveals a pH influence for sodium channel calcium mediated interactions, Rita F. Gyawu, Garett Knotts, MNA Afsar, Taylor A. Agee, Jarrod A. Smith, Brett Kroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson. Berlin Germany

International Society for Heart Research World Congress: Disease-Associated Calmodulin Mutations Impair Calcineurin Function Through Multiple Mechanisms. Ryan B. Williams, Md. Nure Alam Afsar, Yongjun Kou, Taylor A. Agee, Svetlana Tikunova, Jonathan P. Davis, and Christopher N. Johnson, Berlin Germany.

Vanderbilt University Integrated Application of Structural Biology Symposium: An Atomistic Description of the Human Cardiac Sodium Channel in a Lipid Membrane Bailey S. Herring, Jarrod Smith, Steven R. Gwaltney, and Christopher N. Johnson, Nashville TN.

Vanderbilt University Integrated Application of Structural Biology Symposium: A Creative Use of NMR Spectroscopy to Interrogate Protein-Protein Interactions in a Multicomponent System Rita F. Gyawu, Torien M. Beard, MNA Afsar, Taylor A. Agee, Jarrod A. Smith, Brett Kroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson, Nashville TN.

Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium: Electricity to Localization: Enhancing Understanding of a Heartbeat. Garrett Knotts, Kelsei Elmore, MNA Afsar, Rita Gyawu, Bailey Herring, Ryan B. Williams, Taylor Agee, and Christopher N. Johnson, Starkville MS.

Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium: Potential Sodium Channel Modifying Proteins: Who are They and What Do They Do in the Heart ? *Kelsei Elmore, Garrett Knotts, MNA Afsar, Rita Gyawu, Ryan Williams, Bailey Herring, Taylor Agee, and Christopher N. Johnson, Starkville MS.                                   *Undergraduate poster presenter award

2022

International Biophysical Society Conference: Altered calcineurin function has potential to contribute to Calmodulinopathy. Ryan B. Williams, Taylor A. Agee, Svetlana Tikunova, Jonathan P. Davis, and Christopher N. Johnson, San Francisco, CA.

International Biophysical Society Conference: NMR Competition Experiments Interrogate Mechanistic Details of Sodium Channel Calcium Sensitivity. Torien Beard, Rita F. Gyawu, MNA Afsar, TaylorA.Agee, JarrodA.Smith, BrettKroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson, San Francisco, CA.

2021

      Mississippi State University Pitt Festival Conference: A Clever Twist of NMR to Unmask Ligand Binding Preference. Torien M. Beard, Rita F. Gyawu, MNA Afsar, Taylor A. Agee, Jarrod A. Smith, Brett Kroncke, and Christopher N. Johnson, Starkville MS.

Current Team Members:

Sara Garcia - 4^th year graduate scientist 

Randy Kubi Appiah - 3^rd year graduate scientist

Godfred Sunyele -2^nd year graduate scientist

Elice Mbuta Richardson - 2^nd year graduate scientist

Dilmini Abayawardana - 2^nd year graduate scientist

Stanley Kubi - 1^st year graduate scientist 

Katie Robinson - 2^nd year undergraduate scientist

Roston Sartain - 2^nd year undergraduate scientist

Somin Upadhyay - 1^st year undergraduate scientist

Nadia Moore - 1^st year undergraduate scientist

Laboratory Alumni

Afsar Alam - Completed Ph.D.  

Rita Gyawu - Completed Ph.D.  

Taylor Agee - Completed Ph.D.  

Spencer Lile - undergraduate research scientist

Ramon Munoz-Montiel - undergraduate research scientist

Garrett Knotts - undergraduate research scientist

Emily Campbell - undergraduate research scientist

Luke Lossardo - undergraduate research scientist

Nolan Binion - undergraduate research scientist

Kelsie Elmoore - undergraduate research scientist

Torien Beard - graduate rotation student 

Ryan Williams - Completed M.S.