Alan Garfinkel

Our group uses mathematical methods to understand cardiac electrophysiology, especially the arrhythmias Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular Fibrillation, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death. We use mathematical analyses and very large-scale computer simulations using our Virtual Heart Model, a 50 million variable supercomputer model of the electrophysiology of the heart. We have found that fibrillation is form of mathematical "chaos", and is therefore structured and not completely disordered. We can use this order to uncover the fundamental mechanisms causing these arrhythmias and to develop novel therapeutic strategies based on these mechanisms.

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