Dr. Kontorovich’s research is focused on developing a better understanding of the relationship between genetic risks and outcomes across several cardiovascular conditions. One of the main areas of interest in the Kontorovich Laboratory is on discovering novel genetic factors that influence risk and outcomes in the inflammatory heart condition, myocarditis. In recent years, our laboratory and others have shown that human genetic variation is important in the phenotypic evolution of myocarditis and may determine the fate of disease in individuals after exposure to viruses that target the heart. Our team investigates these human genetic factors through experiments using human induced pluripotent stem cells, including gene editing techniques (i.e. CRISPR/Cas9), as well as human genomic studies on patients with myocarditis. Another mode of research for our group harnesses the power of large biobanks to identify individuals with genetic risk for specific heart conditions and utilize existing data as well as prospective studies to clarify the natural history and penetrance of these diseases. A major focus of this work is around hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR) and cardiac amyloidosis.