Rate My Professor Steven Poelzing

Steven Poelzing, Ph.D., is the James and Deborah Petrine Professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and holds professorial appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering within the College of Engineering and the Department of Internal Medicine at the Virginia Tech School of Medicine. He also serves as Associate Director for Faculty Affairs at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Poelzing earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Wright State University, M.S.E. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MetroHealth Medical Center. His professional career includes positions as Research Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Utah from 2008 to 2014, Research Assistant Professor of Bioengineering there from 2005 to 2012, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Utah, consultant to NASA Glenn Research Center, and research assistant at Case Western Reserve University.

Poelzing's research specializes in the biophysical underpinnings of cardiac electrical conduction, emphasizing gap junction protein Connexin43 (Cx43) and ephaptic coupling mediated by electric fields between cardiac myocytes. The Poelzing Lab delineates how Cx43 reduction, extracellular sodium and potassium levels, tissue hydration, inflammation, edema, ischemia, diabetes, genetic mutations, and aging alter conduction velocity and elevate arrhythmia risk, including sudden cardiac death. He has garnered accolades such as Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society (2015), Fellow of the American Heart Association (2014), Michael Bilitch Fellowship in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology (2004), and Top Instructor in Engineering awards at the University of Utah (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). Poelzing has been on the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Cardiac Electrophysiology since 2010. Prominent publications include "Altered connexin43 expression produces arrhythmia substrate in heart failure" (Poelzing S, Rosenbaum DS, Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2004), "Interstitial volume modulates the conduction velocity-gap junction relationship" (Veeraraghavan R et al., Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2012), "Sodium channels in the Cx43 gap junction perinexus may constitute a cardiac ephapse" (Veeraraghavan R et al., Pflugers Arch, 2015), and "Age-Associated Perinexal Narrowing Masks Ephaptic Contributions to Cardiac Conduction" (JACC Clin Electrophysiol, 2025). His investigations have shaped understandings of arrhythmia pathogenesis and informed potential interventions for cardiac disorders.