UC San Diego · Department of Physics
Rappel Lab
Using physics, computation, experiments, and data to understand how cells, tissues, and heart rhythms organize in space and time
Understanding Life Through Physics
The Rappel Lab at UC San Diego uses physics-based theory, computational modeling, cell experiments, and quantitative data analysis to understand complex biological systems. We study how cells sense, move, and organize, how tissues develop, and how electrical waves in the heart give rise to normal rhythm and arrhythmias.
Research Areas
View ResearchCell Motility & Chemotaxis
Understanding how cells sense and respond to chemical gradients
Cardiac Dynamics
Modeling electrical wave propagation in heart tissue
Developmental Biology
Physical principles underlying embryonic development
Computational Methods
Developing novel simulation and analysis techniques
Atrial Fibrillation & Arrhythmia Mapping
Combining models, signal analysis, and AI to understand, predict, and map abnormal heart rhythms