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Research Projects Available
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Christopher Toepfer
PhD
Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Science
- Sir Henry Dale Fellow, Wellcome
- BHF CRE Intermediate Transition Fellow 2019-2021
- Eugene Braunwald Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine 2018-2019 BWH
Inherited Cardiomyopathies and Human Model Systems
Background
Chris completed his PhD at Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor Michael Ferenczi and Dr. James Sellers (NHLBI, NIH). Studying cardiac muscle regulation in health and disease. He subsequently began a Post-doc with the support of a Sir Henry Wellcome Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Professors Christine and Jonathan Seidman at Harvard Medical School and Professor Hugh Watkins at the RDM Oxford.
Chris is currently supported by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from Wellcome. The laboratory focuses on CRISPR/Cas-9 engineering and the use of human model systems such as iPSC-CMs, engineered heart tissues, and organoids. Chris's team use these model human heart disease in a dish systems to uncover new mechanisms in inherited and acquired heart diseases.
In the Press and Editorials
- BBC website 'Cancer treatment broke my heart, but I've survived'
- Nature Reviews Cardiology Editorial ‘Modulating myosin function to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy’
- Circulation Editorial ‘Manipulating Myosin May Help Treat Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy’
- Circulation Research Editorial ‘High-Throughput Contractility Assay for Human Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes: One Beat Closer to Tracking Heart Muscle Dynamics’
- HMS press release and interview ‘On the Beat’
- HMS press release and interview ‘Bad Brakes’
- HMS press release and interview 'Revving the engine'
Recent publications
Functional analysis of TTN uORFs reveals context-dependent translational regulation
Journal article
Kirk RB. et al, (2026), Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, 103077 - 103077
Assaying the myosin super-relaxed state across muscle types, cells and proteins for understanding muscle biology and use in drug discovery
Journal article
Jones STM. et al, (2025), Nature Protocols
Microscale droplet assembly enables biocompatible multifunctional modular iontronics
Journal article
Zhang Y. et al, (2024), Science (New York, N.Y.), 386, 1024 - 1030
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated mutations drive stromal activation via EGFR-mediated paracrine signaling
Journal article
Ewoldt JK. et al, (2024), Science Advances, 10
An ALPK3 truncation variant causing autosomal dominant hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is partially rescued by mavacamten
Preprint
Leinhos L. et al, (2024)
Targeted genetic therapies for inherited disorders that affect both cardiac and skeletal muscle
Journal article
Psaras Y. and Toepfer CN., (2024), Experimental Physiology, 109, 175 - 189