Rafael Shimkunas, 2nd-year PhD student in the BME Graduate Group, has published his first co-authored paper at UC Davis in the journal Science Signaling: http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/7/317/ra27. In the paper, which is featured on the cover of the issue, Rafael and Chen-Izu Lab colleagues used a novel hydrogel system to investigate the mechano-chemotransduction mechanisms in cardiac myocytes. They discovered mechanical stretch applied to cells activates nNOS signaling and contributes to aberrant calcium sparks that can lead to arrhythmia and heart failure.