Dr. Young-Woo Nam has been awarded the Career Development Award from the American Heart Association. The award, which includes a grant of $231,000, will further fund Dr. Nam’s research in atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that can lead to severe health issues like heart failure and stroke. Chapman University’s Drs. Surya Nauli, Miao Zhang, Keykavous Parang, and Nipavan Chiamvimonvat (University of California Davis) will serve as Dr. Nam’s mentor.

This project will focus on the heteromerization of KCa2.2 and KCa2.3, which are two critical ion channels in the heart. The study has two major goals:

  1. Interaction Between KCa2.2 and KCa2.3: Understanding their interaction may give insights into the electrophysiology of atrial fibrillation.
  2. Medication Interaction with Ion Channel Heteromers: To design more effective drugs to treat atrial fibrillation, the researchers will explore and contemplate the ion channel’s reaction to drugs under examination.

Dr. Nam joined Chapman University after he earned his Ph.D. in structural biology in the University of Tokyo, Japan in 2015, and was drawn to Orange County because of the research of Dr. Miao Zhang on the small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (SK) channel. As Dr. Nam puts it, “the depths of Zhang’s expertise in the electrophysiology field and my expertise in the structural biology field serves as a dynamic force of knowledge that allow us to grasp a better understanding of the mechanism of the SK channel and synergies for future groundbreaking drug development.” Dr. Nam and Dr. Zhang have since made major steps towards understanding and treatment of heart conditions, where this grant will continue that work forward.

Dr. Nam’s membrane protein expression and purification systems caught the eyes of the American Heart Association, and played a large influence in securing this grant. “Membrane protein mutations are known to cause misfolding, maltrafficking, and dysfunction, leading to significant human pathophysiology,” says Dr. Nam. “Unfortunately, the membrane protein expression for this research is very difficult, and even if expressed, the yield obtained during the purification process is very low.” Dr. Nam is one of the few researchers that has successfully purified a membrane protein for functional and structural studies, unlocking the ability for new atrial fibrillation drug development methods.

In addition to his research, Dr. Nam has a passion for teaching. Since 2010, he has taught in labs with undergraduate, graduate, and Pharm.D. students, sharing his knowledge and guiding the next generation of researchers. He finds great reward in building positive relationships with his students and values their contributions to his research.

The project, “Structure-Function Studies of Cardiac KCa2.2 and KCa2.3 channels”, will elucidate the structural basis for the physiological and pharmacological regulation of KCa2.2 and KCa2.3 heteromers, providing a framework for structure-based drug design targeting these channels.