Page 18 - CBAC Newsletter 2017

Dr. Richard Schuessler is the Director of the Cardiotho- and started working with Dr. John Boineau who was at
racic Surgery (CTS) Research Laboratory. He is also a that time at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) in
research professor in the departments of Cardiothoracic Augusta.
Surgery and Biomedical Engineering. He was one of the
first faculty members to join the CBAC since its inception I was drawn to electrophysiology as soon as I started in
in 2004. Biomedical Engineering and after meeting Dr. Boineau
at MCG it cemented that interest. I have never departed
A first impression upon meeting him that one will note is from that pathway.
that he is probably one of the most engaging storytellers
amongst the faculty. Since he has been part of the After I got my Ph.D., I was awarded an individual NIH
Cardiothoracic Surgery Division for over thirty years, NRSA with John Boineau as my mentor. It was a great
every object in his office has a story behind it. Including time and he had a very active lab. We had started
old lab coats, pieces of cardiac electrical equipment, working together in 1975, and most of what I know I
Haribo candy, and old photos of family, friends and learned from him. Most importantly, I learned how to
landscapes that he had visited around the world. think about the research process and be a scientist.

How long have you been in your current position? I had joined the MCG faculty after my post-doctoral
research in cardiology working with John. He had also
I have been here since November 1, 1984. I have worked trained Jim Cox when he was at Duke. Jim was appointed
in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Laboratory and I Chief of CT Surgery at WashU in 1983 and invited John
am the director. and me to move to St Louis in 1984. The opportunities
and resources, staff, and faculty were outstanding, we
While growing up, what kind of experiences inspired your couldn’t say no! For both of us, it turned out to be a good
career choice? decision to move to WashU and with Jim Cox we did a lot
of good work together.
My father graduated from Washington University in
St. Louis in mechanical engineering in 1950. As a child, What would you say motivates you to do what you do?
he brought me to engineering days and other events at
WashU. His interest in science transferred to me and I have always been interested in how things work. I think
growing up I wanted to be an astronomer. While in high about these things all the time. I even dream about them.
school, I even built my own telescope, grinding the lens One time, I woke up in a panic because I was afraid my
and everything. My dad recommended that I get an heart would stop beating if I didn’t understand the
undergraduate degree in something that was marketable. interaction of all the ion channels in the sinus node.
Computer Science was the “new thing” and I ended up I think science and mathematics allows us to see the
getting a B.S. and M.S. in computer science at University inner beauty of creation.
of Missouri Rolla. At that time, computer science was in
the most part mathematics (numerical analysis), which I What is your most important research achievement?
loved. But I was looking for something more applied and
experimental and chose another “new thing,” - Biomed- Two things. One, our contribution to understanding the
ical Engineering. I got a Ph.D. from Clemson University structure and function of the sinus node and other atrial

Education: Research Interests:

• 1974 M.S., Computer Science • Surgical Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmias
University of Missouri- Rolla, Rolla, MO • Regulation of Myocardial Gap Junctions
• Structural and Function of the Sinus Node
• 1977 Ph.D., Bioengineering • Cx43 in a Genetic Model of Altered Myocardial Conduction
Clemson University, Clemson, SC • Mechanisms of Atrial Fibrillation

13 | CBAC Center Heartbeat