Every movement, every thought, and every heartbeat is the response to electrical signals in our tissues. Defects in these electrical signals underlie multiple diseases, including cardiac arrhythmias, epilepsies and other neurological disorders, muscle disorders, as well as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and kidney disorders, involving organs not typically thought of as being electrically excitable.

Reflecting increased awareness of the role of electrical excitability and the myriad of diseases now linked directly to derangements in membrane excitability, CIMED will pull together scientists from different disciplines with a fundamental interest in excitability diseases.

With the unified theme of the Center, CIMED investigators will be uniquely positioned to provide fundamental insights into membrane excitability disease mechanisms, and to the development of novel therapeutics.