BY

I would like to thank the people who have directly or indirectly helped me in completing my work. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Micheal Kyba for having guided me in this work. I would like to thank him for his excellent monitoring and invaluable advice during the course of my work. I would like to thank Dr. Jonathan Slack, for his valuable suggestions and help during the course of my project. I would also like to thank Dr. Daniel Garry for graciously consenting to be a part of my project committee. I express my gratitude to all the people in Dr. Kyba’s lab for their valuable help in my efforts to complete my project. I also express my gratitude to Lillehei Heart Institute for allowing me to conduct experiments in their facility. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Susan Keirstead, Dr. Rita Perlingeiro’s lab, Jennifer Fricton and Yi Ren for helping me with the experimental work. Finally, I would like to thank my husband and parents for their love and support during the course of my work. I am grateful to my friends for their help and support during the course of this project. i