Welcome back to the second day of the St Vincent's Campus Research Symposium! We have an actioned packed day with the second half of the oral presentations, flash talks, Twitter presentations and a session on AI and Bioengineering! #SVCRS2021 @SVHSydney Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Garvan Institute of Medical Research The Kinghorn Cancer Centre

We will soon be moving on to twitter presentations! Our first ever twitter presentation will be coming online at 1 pm!! We are excited to bring this format to the St Vincent's Campus Research Symposium and look forward to seeing how our presenters utilize this format! #SVCRS2021 #MedicalResearch

Did you know that common drugs such as antihistamines can induce abnormal heart rhythms, with some of them even causing sudden death? 😱 This phenomenon is known as drug-induced long QT syndrome and arises due to disturbances of electrical activity in the heart.🫀 #SVCRS2021 1/5

#SVCRS2021 presenter Michelle Xu Michelle Xu: 'Diverse genetic background of individuals contributes to variable response to proarrhythmic drugs.' #HeartResearch #diLQTS #hERG #cardiomyocytes #CardioTwitter St Vincent's Campus Research Symposium #WomeninSTEM #WomenInScience

We measured electrophysiological responses to drugs in human #iPSC #cardiomyocytes from multiple patients to understand the extent of genetic variability and #proarrhythmic risk between individuals. This video shows a monolayer of beating cells and its response. #SVCRS2021 2/5

In most cases, the molecular basis of these side effects is due to block of #hERG potassium channels, which can lead to prolongation of cardiac #repolarisation and #arrhythmias. An individual’s response to a drug can differ depending on their expression of hERG. #SVCRS2021 3/5

Moreover, some drugs can block multiple types of channels, meaning there is a complex balance between pro- and anti- #arrhythmia that is determined by drug dose and channel expression. Thus, the response of individuals to these drug types is harder to predict. 🤔 #SVCRS2021 4/5

#Arrhythmias only occur in a few % of people, so we need to shift the emphasis of screening pills to people. A better insight to the #genetic basis of #proarrhythmia will allow both personalised risk prediction, as well as development of population risk metrics. #SVCRS2021 5/5

Thanks to everyone who liked and retweeted my posts, and thanks to St Vincent's Campus Research Symposium for the opportunity to present at #SVCRS2021 🥰

Thank you Australian Society for Biophysics (ASB) for the fantastic opportunity to present my work! There’s been so many great talks already; can’t wait to see what the next 2 days bring ☺️☺️ #asb2021

Thank you to everyone who watched my talk last Thursday + gave me kind messages and feedback! It‘s been a long time since I presented in-person (the last one was my Honours in 2018) so it was definitely nerve wracking 😅 St Vincent's Campus Research Symposium Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute