Dr. Conklin uses induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, both from patients and engineered to have particular mutations to model human disease. His laboratory’s major focus is on genes that cause “sudden death” due to abnormal heart rhythm and heart failure from cardiomyopathy. Recent genetic studies provide gene variant associations that are largely untested. Comparing iPS cells with engineered, discrete mutations in an isogenic background provide an experimental system to directly test these genetic associations. Personalized medicine can benefit from experimental testing of gene variants to prove (or disprove) hypothetical genetic associations.