![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Tour160315a041.jpg\")
<\/a>Dr. J. Travis Hinson<\/a>, a physician-scientist who joined the faculties of UConn Health and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX<\/a>) in 2016, is using a novel system he pioneered to study heart tissue.<\/p>\n Hinson engineers heart-like structures with cells containing specific genetic mutations in order to study the genetics of cardiomyopathies, diseases of the heart muscle that can lead to heart failure and, ultimately, death.<\/p>\n \u201cWe basically try to rebuild a little piece of a patient\u2019s heart in a dish,\u201d says Hinson, who developed the technique during a postdoctoral fellowship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.<\/p>\n He combines cardiac muscle cells with support cells, such as fibroblasts, and other key factors, including extracellular matrix proteins. Although these tiny, three-dimensional structures do not pump blood, they do contract rhythmically, and their beating strength can be studied.<\/p>\n Making a Difference<\/strong> As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Hinson interned at DuPont in New Jersey to explore his interests in chemistry and engineering. But he soon realized that his passion for science needed a real-word focus. \u201cI wanted to do science that made a difference in people\u2019s health,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The same summer, he volunteered in the emergency department of a local hospital. Impressed by a cardiologist\u2019s calm and collected manner in a crisis, and gaining interest in the heart, Hinson changed his career trajectory from engineering to medical school.<\/p>\n Hinson joined the laboratory of Dr. Robert J. Levy, a pediatric cardiologist and researcher at The Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia, working to harness gene therapy techniques to make artificial heart valves and other cardiovascular devices more durable. Through this early foray into biomedical research, Hinson deepened his interest in biomedical science and gained an appreciation of the work of a physician-scientist.<\/p>\n While doing research in Dr. Christine Seidman\u2019s lab as part of his MD at Harvard Medical School, he chose to lead a project on Bj\u00f6rnstad syndrome, a rare, inherited syndrome characterized by hearing loss and twisted, brittle hair. At the time, little was known about the molecular causes of the disorder, although the genetic culprits were thought to reside within a large swath of chromosome 2. Using genetic mapping techniques and DNA sequencing, Hinson homed in on the precise mutations.<\/p>\n In addition to casting light on disease biology, he glimpsed the power of genomic information. \u201cI was fascinated by the potential for understanding new genes that cause human diseases,” Hinson says, “and how important that was to society.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHinson is applauded for his ability to move seamlessly between research, clinical practice, and teaching \u2013 the three prongs of an academic medical center\u2019s mission. He\u2019s able to do so, perhaps, because his own career began at the intersection of multiple scientific specialties.<\/p>\n