Centre of Experimental Medicine SAS
Topic
Pharmacologically and non-pharmacologically induced cardioprotection in chronic heart failure: improvement of cardiac metabolism and mitochondria-targeted therapies.
PhD. program
Animal physiology
Year of admission
2026
Name of the supervisor
Mgr. Veronika Farkašová, PhD
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Natural Sciences Comenius University
Annotation
Heart failure (HF) is the final stage of several cardiovascular diseases, in particular, myocardial infarction (MI).
Although the patients who successfully survive MI live longer, the alteration of the heart muscle will manifest
later on by chronic failure of its pumping function. Potential reasons for this may be related to the complexity
of the HF mechanisms and the requirement for multi-targeted effects of optimal cardioprotection. The project
aims to investigate the possibility of reactivating adaptive potential in pathologically remodeled failing
myocardium through pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. We will examine the effects of
drugs with cardioprotective properties and intermittent hypoxia applied prior to administration of pathological
stimulus and in various stages of the development of HF. We will focus on characterizing functional and
structural changes in the myocardium and the specific signalling pathways associated with the origin and
development of HF and cardioprotection.
Although the patients who successfully survive MI live longer, the alteration of the heart muscle will manifest
later on by chronic failure of its pumping function. Potential reasons for this may be related to the complexity
of the HF mechanisms and the requirement for multi-targeted effects of optimal cardioprotection. The project
aims to investigate the possibility of reactivating adaptive potential in pathologically remodeled failing
myocardium through pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. We will examine the effects of
drugs with cardioprotective properties and intermittent hypoxia applied prior to administration of pathological
stimulus and in various stages of the development of HF. We will focus on characterizing functional and
structural changes in the myocardium and the specific signalling pathways associated with the origin and
development of HF and cardioprotection.