Tara Tassin, Ph.D.

Tara Tassin, Ph.D., is an Instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Division of Cardiology.

Originally from Illinois, Dr. Tassin earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Dallas and her doctorate in molecular biophysics at UT Southwestern. She completed her advanced training through postdoctoral fellowships in the pharmacology and psychiatry of addiction at UT Southwestern, and joined the faculty in 2019.

Dr. Tassin’s research focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Her investigations have resulted in several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

In addition to her research at UT Southwestern, Dr. Tassin serves as a mentor to graduate and medical students, as well as college and high school students.

She is a member of the American Heart Association.

Graduate School

University of Dallas (2010), Biophysics

Undergraduate

University of Dallas (2016), Biochemistry

• Heart Failure
• Molecular Signaling
• Neuromuscular Cardiomyopathy
• Oxidative Stress
• Regenerative Medicine

Featured Publications

The role of ventral striatal cAMP signaling in stress-induced behaviors.

Plattner F, Hayashi K, Hernández A, Benavides DR, Tassin TC, Tan C, Day J, Fina MW, Yuen EY, Yan Z, Goldberg MS, Nairn AC, Greengard P, Nestler EJ, Taussig R, Nishi A, Houslay MD, Bibb JA, Nat. Neurosci. 2015 Aug 18 8 1094-100

Regulation of ERK Kinase by MEK1 Kinase Inhibition in the Brain.

Tassin TC, Benavides DR, Plattner F, Nishi A, Bibb JA, J. Biol. Chem. 2015 Jun 290 26 16319-29

Enhancement of dynamin polymerization and GTPase activity by Arc/Arg3.1.

Byers CE, Barylko B, Ross JA, Southworth DR, James NG, Taylor CA, Wang L, Collins KA, Estrada A, Waung M, Tassin TC, Huber KM, Jameson DM, Albanesi JP, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 2015 Jun 1850 6 1310-8

The proline/arginine-rich domain is a major determinant of dynamin self-activation.

Barylko B, Wang L, Binns DD, Ross JA, Tassin TC, Collins KA, Jameson DM, Albanesi JP, Biochemistry 2010 Dec 49 50 10592-4

The cytoplasmic tail of the T cell receptor CD3 epsilon subunit contains a phospholipid-binding motif that regulates T cell functions.

Deford-Watts LM, Tassin TC, Becker AM, Medeiros JJ, Albanesi JP, Love PE, Wülfing C, van Oers NS, J. Immunol. 2009 Jul 183 2 1055-64

Facile detection of protein-protein interactions by one-dimensional NMR spectroscopy.

Araç D, Murphy T, Rizo J Biochemistry 2003 Mar 42 10 2774-80

• Best of Basic Cardiovascular Research
  American Heart Association (2018)
• Second Place, Clinical Research
  UT Southwestern - Texas Health Resources Cardiovascular Symposium Poster Competition (2018)

• American Heart Association (2018)