Funding will allow Dania Ahmed to test a hypothesis that restoring typical desmin levels in cardiomyopathic cells with the MYH7 E848G mutation – associated with dilated cardiomyopathy – will help recover contractile function. In her project, Ahmed will restore wild type desmin protein levels in hiPSC-CMs expressing the mutation, and assess the contractile effects of desmin upregulation on cardiomyopathic iPSC-CMs by measuring single cell contractile force.