The Cardiac Bioelectric Systems Laboratory research focuses on both the physiological and pathophysiological function of cardiac cells at a multicellular, syncytial level. We use cell culture models in a manner akin to mathematical models in which elements of the model can be designed, synthesized or controlled. Our traditional approach consists of cultured, confluent monolayers of cardiac cells that number in the tens of thousands to a million. These cell monolayers can be engineered in terms of their tissue architecture, cell type, protein expression and microenvironment, and have been used to study clinically relevant phenomena in the heart that include electrical stimulation, electrical propagation, arrhythmia and cell therapy.