Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student Guzel Musina has been awarded her second predoctoral fellowship by the American Heart Association (AHA) for her project, “Novel optogenetics tool for the mouse embryonic cardiodynamic research.”
The project’s aim is to develop a new optical tool for manipulating cardiodynamics in mouse embryos, which “involves creating and applying advanced optogenetic techniques to study the intricate processes within embryonic cardiac tissues.”
“My aim is to improve our understanding of the early cardiac conduction system development to advance identification and management of conduction related congenital heart defects,” said Musina. “My research focus remains consistent, but there have been exciting developments over the past year.
“I am continuing my work on using advanced optical imaging and optogenetic tools to study the earliest cardiac pacemaker cells in mouse embryos. Recently, I have expanded my experiments with new genetic models and have been developing improved mapping and analysis approaches to better understand how pacemaker regions change in mouse embryonic heart. This year has been especially productive in terms of both technical progress and refinement of the overall scientific questions.”
Musina describes her first year with the AHA fellowship was “an incredibly important and motivating experience.”
“One of the biggest high points was the sense of recognition and support it provided at an early stage of my Ph.D. training,” she said. “It helped me stay productive during a very demanding year of balancing graduate research and family responsibilities. I am very grateful to have this continued support. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much the fellowship boosted my confidence and opened new opportunities for presenting my work and connecting with others in the field.”
Looking forward, Musina hopes to continue building on this work through the completion of her Ph.D. and toward a career that allows her to apply her expertise in biomedical imaging, data analysis and developmental physiology. She remains “very grateful” for the support from the AHA and from her mentor, professor of integrative physiology Dr. Irina Larina, and research team at Baylor College of Medicine.
“This fellowship has been instrumental not only in advancing the project but also in supporting my growth as an independent researcher,” said Musina. “Receiving the fellowship again allows me to keep making steady progress and reinforces the importance of this research direction.”