Magdalena Chrzanowska
Professor, Versiti Blood Research Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA
Biography
Prof. Magdalena Chrzanowska received her PhD from Cell and Cardiovascular Biology, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her laboratory has studied the function of small G proteins in the cardiovascular system. Prof. Chrzanowska uses transgenic mouse and zebrafish models for in vivo studies and a variety of biochemical, molecular, and microscopy approaches to interrogate signaling by small GTPases in vascular cells ex vivo. Using Rap1b-knockout mice Prof. Chrzanowska has recently revealed a novel role of Rap1b in vivo: regulation of angiogenesis. In addition to promoting angiogenesis, her studies indicated that Rap1b is required for the maintenance of normal blood pressure as Rap1b-knockout mice are hypertensive and develop cardiac hypertrophy. Prof. Chrzanowska is currently utilizing tissue-specific knockout mice to understand which physiological processes are involved in the regulation of blood pressure and normal cardiac function regulated by Rap1.