Patrick McLendon received his PhD in Biological Chemistry from Virginia Tech in 2009. Patrick’s research is focused on heart failure caused by misfolded protein accumulation (proteotoxicity) in cardiomyocytes, with the goal of finding new avenues to treat heart failure caused by proteotoxicity. He designed a High-throughput screening assay to uncover new effectors of protein aggregation, and his current research is focused on establishing these candidates as legitimate targets in heart failure. His research interests also involve cardiac autophagy, and how this process can be harnessed for cardioprotection.