Directory of Experts
Details for Professor Jules Hancox
| Personal details | |
| Name | Professor Jules Hancox |
| Job title | Professor of Cardiac Electrophysiology |
| Department | School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience University of Bristol |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | B.Sc.(Leeds), Ph.D.(St.And.) |
| Professional details | |
| Membership of professional bodies | Member of the Physiological Society and British Pharmacological Society. Fellow of the Society of Biology. |
| Keywords | arrhythmia antiarrhythmic electrophysiology atrioventricular node QT-interval drug induced arrhythmia pacemaking pharmacology |
| Areas of expertise | I am interested in elucidating the function of small membrane proteins (ion channels and exchangers) responsible for generating electrical activity of cells in the heart. Defects in ion channel function lead to cardiac rhythm abnormalities (arrhythmias) I have a long-standing interest in how drugs alter the electrophysiological behaviour of the heart through modifying ion channel function. Drug actions can be beneficial (antiarrhythmic) or dangerous (proarrhythmic). I have general expertise in cardiac ion channel pharmacology and antiarrhythmic drug action, and a particular interest in the hERG potassium channel, which plays an important role in drug-induced arrhythmias and in the congenital 'Short QT syndrome'. Another area of long-standing interest is the basis of the activity of a key part of the heart's electrical conducting system called the atrioventricular (AV) node. This co-ordinates the normal sequence of beating of the heart's upper and lower chambers (the atria and ventricles). |