Laboratory of Cardiovascular and Muscular Physiology
                        The University of Maryland School of Medicine

As a principal investigator for over 40 years, Dr. Lederer has led his team to several key discoveries in calcium signaling, including the 1992 discovery of calcium sparks, the calcium signals in the heart that underlie all heart contractions, as well as all other muscles and excitable cells.

 

Dr. Lederer’s discovery and subsequent study of calcium sparks has led to the development of a new area of research in local signaling events.

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Earlier in his career, while studying at Yale, Dr. Lederer discovered and characterized the transient inward current, a finding that contributed to medicine’s understanding of the arrhythmogenic delayed after-depolarization (DAD) and early after-depolarization (EAD) events.

 

He also pioneered the use of confocal imaging in cardiac research, developing a number of techniques and tools. He is a leader in developing and implementing novel imaging technologies relevant to muscle biology that capture real-time signals at a high temporal and spatial resolution.

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Recent discoveries include a new calcium-dependent, mechano-chemical signaling pathway called X-ROS, which links calcium signaling to the cytoskeleton and contraction. Dr. Lederer is Professor of Physiology in the School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology.