The Hong Laboratory studies how cardiomyocyte membrane microdomains are organized and remodeled during heart failure progression. We focus on cBIN1, a key protein that organizes t-tubule microdomains and the calcium-handling machinery essential for normal cardiac function. Our work investigates how chronic stress disrupts cBIN1 microdomains, how restoring cBIN1 through gene therapy preserves cardiac function, and how cBIN1-containing microparticles in blood serve as a biomarker of cardiac health. The goal is to translate these bench discoveries into new therapeutic tools for the clinical management of heart failure.
Research Areas
Our research moves from bench to bedside. We showed that restoring cBIN1 via gene therapy preserves cardiac function in heart failure (JACC, 2020), and that AAV9-cBIN1 gene therapy improves cardiac function in a minipig model of heart failure (npj Regenerative Medicine, 2024), advancing cBIN1 gene therapy toward the FIGHT-HF clinical trial. In parallel, we established that cBIN1-containing microparticles in blood serve as a biomarker of cardiac health (PLOS Biology, 2017).
cBIN1 and Cardiomyocyte Membrane Microdomains
T-Tubule Organization and Calcium Handling in Heart Failure
cBIN1 Blood Biomarkers of Cardiac Health
AAV9-cBIN1 Gene Therapy toward the FIGHT-HF Trial
Leadership
Dr. TingTing Hong earned her MD from Peking University and her PhD from the University of Michigan. She completed postdoctoral training at UCSF with Dr. Robin Shaw, previously held appointments at Cedars-Sinai/UCLA, and was recruited to the University of Utah in 2020, where she leads the Hong Laboratory.
Commitment to Mentorship
The Hong Lab trains PhD students and early-career scientists in cardiovascular research. Current PhD students include:
Bradley Richmond, who studies t-tubule microdomains and mitophagy and holds the 2025–2026 Skaggs Graduate Research Fellowship;
Patience Ofosuah, whose research focuses on cBIN1 delivery efficiency; and Augie Wheeler, who studies GLUT4 colocalization with cBIN1 membranes.
Jing Li, PhD, Associate Instructor at CVRTI, works with the lab and was first author on its 2024 cBIN1 gene-therapy paper. Dr. Hong teaches in the College of Pharmacy and was named an Outstanding Teacher (GEM award, November 2025).
