Aminah Loonat

I am a postdoctoral research scientist in the group of Associate. Prof. Pawel Swietach. My research interest lies in understanding intracellular cardiac signalling pathways involved in the development of cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. I am currently working on a BHF funded project which aims to understand H+ ion control and signalling in cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. My key interest is how proteins change behaviour in disease conditions, and how this acts to bring about a change at the cellular level. As such I am interested in:
1. Changes in expression of proteins
2. How proteins interact with each other
3. If proteins undergo post-translational changes
4. If proteins change intracellular localisation
To address these questions, I employ a wide range of molecular and biochemical techniques such as RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE/Western blotting, Phostag gel analysis, immunocytochemistry, gene knockdown, overexpression and site directed mutagenesis.

I joined the Oxford Proton Signalling Group in 2016 as a postdoctoral research scientist, having previously completed my PhD at the BHF Centre of Excellence, St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London. My doctoral work was also focused on signalling in cardiac hypertrophy, examining the role of p38ɣ and its substrates in disease progression.