Centre of Biosciences SAS
Topic
Neuronal-cardiac crosstalk in Dravet syndrome.
PhD. program
Animal Physiology
Year of admission
2026
Name of the supervisor
Mgr. Bohumila Jurkovičová Tarabová, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava
Annotation
Dravet syndrome (DS), a severe childhood epilepsy caused primarily by SCN1A mutations, is associated with a dramatically elevated risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). While seizures are central to the disorder, increasing evidence implicates cardiac dysfunction in SUDEP pathogenesis. The proposed PhD thesis aims to investigate the cardiac and neuronal phenotype of DS using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The goal is to establish a pathophysiological link between SCN1A dysfunction, cardiac and neuronal excitability, and SUDEP risk, providing new insights for therapeutic strategies. Experimental work will combine electrophysiology (patch-clamp, MEA) , advanced confocal microscopy and molecularbiology methods.