Dr Zheng Wang is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. Dr Wang earned his PhD in microbiology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He completed his postdoctoral training in Microbiome and Microbial Genomics at Columbia University Medical Center. His research has focused on human microbiome, especially the diet-microbiota-host interactions in specific populations, and integrative multi-omics (e.g., metagenomics and metabolomics) of chronic diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular diseases. He is also interested in exploring the mechanisms and functional genomic basis of specific microbial taxa that contributed to the development of cardiovascular diseases. His research is supported by a K01 research career development award from NHLBI.

Dr Dan Zhao is a neurosurgeon who focuses on cerebrovascular diseases. She graduated from China Medical University, majoring in Clinical Medicine, and earned Her MS in neurosurgery from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University. She earned her PhD in Cell Biology from School of Life Sciences, China Medical University, mentored by Dr Weidong Zhao. During her doctoral and postdoctoral studies, she mainly conducted research on the mechanism of cerebral small vessel disease in diabetes. She hopes her research will lead to new treatments for patients with diabetes and cerebrovascular disease.

Dr Xiaojing Sun is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She earned her PhD at Peking Union Medical College in China. In her early career, Dr Sun participated in the discovery of novel compounds to treat cardiomyopathies and heart failure, utilizing chemical genetic screens in zebrafish. Currently, Dr Sun’s research explores the effects of ion channels on heart conditions, focusing on the involvement of TRPC6 in doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity and the role of SORBS2 in BK channel regulation in diabetic vessels. Outside of the lab, she enjoys music, hiking and skiing.

Dr Aleix Rius Rigau completed his veterinary medicine degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. After working as a clinical veterinarian, he studied Advanced Immunology, with a particular focus in immunopathology, at the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In 2017, he joined the research group of Jörg Distler in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital Erlangen, Germany after completing his master thesis in Eva Martinez Cáceres group at the IGTP (Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute). Aleix’s PhD project is focused on a comprehensive multi-omics analysis characterization of cellular changes during progression and resolution of fibrosis. He is also currently managing the imaging mass cytometry facility of the University Hospital Erlangen.

Chang Ma earned her BS and MS in Clinical Medicine at Shandong University, and subsequently pursued her MD and PhD in Cardiovascular Internal Medicine at the same institution under the mentorship of Dr Wencheng Zhang. Guided by Dr Zhang, Chang began her research into macrophages and atherosclerosis, cultivating a profound interest in this area of study. She is eager to further her research in this field after her graduation. In her leisure time, she enjoys dancing and spending quality time with her friends and family. She can be found on X @changma656951.

Dr Rachel Padget is a postdoctoral fellow at Cytokinetics, Inc., in South San Francisco, California. Rachel earned her PhD in May 2022 at Virginia Tech in the laboratory of Dr James Smyth at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. Before her PhD, she earned her BS in Biochemistry at the University of Central Missouri and her MS in Biology at Missouri State University. Her main research interests are in restoring cardiac health after pathogen infection and exploring new targets for therapeutic development. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys trail running and trying ambitious baking recipes.

Dr Xiaoxiao Liu is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. She earned her BS from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University, her MS from the Medical College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and PhD from the Medical College of Fudan University. From 2019 t0 2022, Dr Liu worked in the laboratory of Dr Ming-Sing Si, where she studied the functional role of SLIT3 in postnatal cardiomyocytes, ad helped discover the direct hypertrophic effects of SLIT3 on cardiomyocytes. Since then, Dr Liu has engaged in basic and clinical translational research on cardiovascular diseases, myocarditis and hypertension. Currently she is investigating the mechanisms involved in cardiac cellular crosstalk, cardiomyocyte mitochondrial regulation and intracellular signaling pathways in the setting of hypertension. After her postdoctoral training, Dr Liu plans to continue exploring the mechanisms of pressure-overload-induced heart remodeling and cardiomyocyte energy metabolism.

Baolei Li is a current PhD student at University of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where his research focuses on investigating the molecular mechanisms of congenital heart defects, especially the role of transcription factor SOX7 in cardiovascular development. From 2019 to 2022, he worked at Dr Ming-Sing Si’s Laboratory at the University of Michigan as a visiting scholar, where he explored the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy. Specifically, he focused on SLIT3’s function in the cardiovascular system after birth.