Professor Katja Gehmlich

Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
Professor of Molecular Cardiology

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 8529
Email: k.gehmlich@bham.ac.uk

Address: Cardiovascular Sciences
College of Medicine and Health
Univeristy of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Professor Katja Gehmlich is interested in how genetic variants in genes coding for proteins involved in biomechanical stress signalling cause inherited cardiac conditions (cardiomyopathies). She employs molecular, biophysical, cellular and in vivo models in her research. In particular she is interested in using induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes in her research.

Qualifications

PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Cell Biology 2005
Diploma (MSc equivalent) in Chemistry 2001

Biography

Professor Katja Gehmlich graduated with a Diploma in Chemistry (with Molecular and Cellular Biology) from the University of Potsdam, Germany in 2001. She received a PhD in Cell Biology from the same university in 2005.

Professor Gehmlich came to the UK for her postdoctoral training and work at the University of Manchester (2005-2007), University College London (2007 – 2010) and University of Oxford (2010 – 2013).

She was awarded a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship (2013 – 2020). She received the title University Research Lecturer from the University of Oxford in 2016 and became Associate Professor in 2018. She has an active secondary affiliation with Cardiovascular Medicine in the Radcliffe Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford.

In 2019, she became Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Science at the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, also Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. In 2024, she was promoted to Professor of Molecular Cardiology.

She has a long standing interest in the cardiac system with focus on inherited cardiac conditions (cardiomyopathies) and bio-mechanical stress signalling.

Teaching

Professor Katja Gehmlich has extensive experience in supervision of undergraduate research students.

Postgraduate supervision

Professor Katja Gehmlich has supervised numerous postgraduate students (2 completed, one active).

She accepts PhD students in her group, e.g. with interest in projects using induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes to understand biomechanical stress signalling in the heart.

Research

Professor Katja Gehmlich has a long standing interest into striated muscle systems.

Her research pursues the following questions:

What is the role of certain signalling proteins in the heart?
What are the consequences of genetic variants in these proteins? How do they cause inherited cardiac conditions (called cardiomyopathies)?
Can these diseases be modelled with the help of in vivo models and/or induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes?

Professor Gehmlich collaborates with other research groups such as:

Heart Failure and Arrhythmia Cluster, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham
Katja Gehmlich's profile page with the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
Gehmlich Group: Biomechanical stress signalling in the heart and its role in cardiomyopathies

Other activities

Professor Katja Gehmlich is peer reviewer for various International journals and funding agencies. She is member of the editorial board of Biophysical Reviews.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Leinhos, L, Robinson, P, Poloni, G, Broadway-Stringer, S, Beglov, J, Lokman, AB, Douglas, G, Nuthay, S, Fonseka, O, Schmid, M, Singer, E, Hooper, C, Thomson, K, Bagnall, RD, Ingles, J, Semsarian, C, Ormondroyd, E, Toepfer, CN, Davies, B, Redwood, CR, Watkins, H & Gehmlich, K 2025, 'An ALPK3 truncation variant causing autosomal dominant hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is partially rescued by mavacamten', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, 10090. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94371-w

Noureddine, M, Broadway-Stringer, S, O'Shea, C, Jones, BAI, Hayes, A, Denning, C, Loughna, S, Mohammed, F, Pavlovic, D & Gehmlich, K 2025, 'Atrial Electrical Alterations with Intact Cardiac Structure and Contractile Function in a Mouse Model of an HCM-linked ACTN2 Variant', Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmccpl.2025.100455

Roy, A, O'Shea, C, Dasí, A, Patel, L, Cumberland, MJ, Nieves, D, Canagarajah, H, Thompson, S, Azad, A, Price, A, Hall, C, Alvior, AM, Rath, P, Davies, B, Rodriguez, B, Holmes, AP, Pavlovic, D, Townend, JN, Geberhiwot, T, Gehmlich, K & Steeds, RP 2025, 'Early Atrial Remodeling Drives Arrhythmia in Fabry Disease', Circulation Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCEP.124.013352

Wang, Z, Cao, G, Collier, MP, Qiu, X, Broadway-Stringer, S, Šaman, D, Ng, JZY, Sen, N, Azad, A, Hooper, C, Zimmerman, J, McDonough, MA, Brem, J, Rabe, P, Song, H, Alderson, TR, Schofield, CJ, Bolla, JR, Djinovic-Carugo, K, Fürst, DO, Warscheid, B, Degiacomi, MT, Allison, TM, Hochberg, GKA, Robinson, CV, Gehmlich, K & Benesch, JLP 2025, 'Filamin C dimerisation is regulated by HSPB7', Nature Communications, vol. 16, 4090. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58889-x

Chunthorng-Orn, J, Noureddine, M, Dawson, P, Lord, SO, Ng, J, Boyton, L, Gehmlich, K, Mohammed, F & Lai, Y-C 2025, 'HCM‐Associated MuRF1 Variants Compromise Ubiquitylation and Are Predicted to Alter Protein Structure', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 26, no. 8, 3921. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26083921

Marhuenda, E, Xanthis, I, O. Smith, P, Prakash , A, Kallem, T, Pandey, P, Wilson, DGS, Azad, A, Richter, M, Pavlovic, D, Gehmlich, K, Faggian, G, Swiatlowska, P, Ehler, E, Levitt, J, Poland, SP, Ameer-Beg, S, Goult , BT & Iskratsch, T 2025, 'Mechanosensitive biochemical imprinting of the talin interaction with DLC1 regulates RhoA activity and cardiomyocyte remodeling', Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 36. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adt6083

Noureddine, M, Mikolajek, H, Morgan, N, Denning, C, Loughna, S, Gehmlich, K & Mohammed, F 2025, 'Structural and functional insights into α-actinin isoforms and their implications in cardiovascular disease', Journal of General Physiology, vol. 157, no. 2, e202413684. https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.202413684

Patel, L, Marzullo, BP, Barlow, J, Rana, H, Azad, AJ, Thomas, P, Tennant, DA & Gehmlich, K 2025, 'Substrate Stiffness‐Dependent Metabolic Reprogramming of iPSC‐Derived cardiomyocytes on Physiological PDMS Polymers', Metabolic Engineering Communications, vol. 21, e00266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mec.2025.e00266

Roy, A, Cumberland, M, O'Shea, C, Holmes, A, Kalla, M, Gehmlich, K, Geberhiwot, T & Steeds, R 2024, 'Arrhythmogenesis in Fabry Disease', Current cardiology reports. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-024-02053-2

Patel, L, Roy, A, Barlow, J, O'Shea, C, Nieves, D, Azad, A, Hall, C, Davies, B, Rath, P, Pavlovic, D, Chikermane, A, Geberhiwot, T, Steeds, R & Gehmlich, K 2024, 'Characterisation of infantile cardiomyopathy in Alström Syndrome using ALMS1 Knockout induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocyte model', Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, vol. 143, no. 1-2, 108575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymgme.2024.108575

Roy, A, Patel, L, Yuan, M, O'Shea, C, Alvior, AMB, Charalambides, M, Moxon, D, Baig, S, Bunting, KV, Gehmlich, K, Geberhiwot, T & Steeds, R 2024, 'Defining the cardiovascular phenotype of adults with Alström syndrome', International Journal of Cardiology, vol. 409, 132212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2024.132212

Fabritz, L, Fortmueller, L, Gehmlich, K, Kant, S, Kemper, M, Kucerova, D, Syeda, F, Faber, C, Leube, R, Kirchhof, P & Krusche, CA 2024, 'Endurance training provokes Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy phenotype in heterozygous Desmoglein 2 mutants: Alleviation by preload reduction', Biomedicines, vol. 12, no. 5, 985. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12050985

Støle, TP, Lunde, M, Gehmlich, K, Christensen, G, Louch, WE & Carlson, CR 2024, 'Exploring Syndecan-4 and MLP, and Their Interaction, in Primary Cardiomyocytes and H9c2 Cells', Cells, vol. 13, no. 11, 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13110947

McKay, EJ, Luijten, I, Broadway-Stringer, S, Thomson, A, Weng, X, Gehmlich, K, Gray, GA & Semple, RK 2024, 'Female Alms1-deficient mice develop echocardiographic features of adult but not infantile Alström Syndrome cardiomyopathy', Disease Models & Mechanisms. https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.050561

Review article

Thompson, SE, Roy, A, Geberhiwot, T, Gehmlich, K & Steeds, RP 2025, 'Fabry Disease: Insights into Pathophysiology and Novel Therapeutic Strategies', Biomedicines, vol. 13, no. 3, 624. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13030624

View all publications in research portal