Gabriele G. Schiattarella is a MD/PhD cardiologist-scientist whose research focuses on molecular mechanisms of remodeling in the disease-stressed myocardium. Dr. Schiattarella is leading a research group at Charité University Medical Center and Max Delbrück for Molecular Medicine in Berlin focused on molecular mechanisms of HFpEF, HFrEF and cardiometabolic diseases.

Samuel James is a 2nd year PhD student at the University of Auckland, supervised my A/Prof Kim Mellor in the Cellular and Molecular Cardiology laboratory. His current research focuses on the metabolic changes in the heart with diabetes and how deciphering these changes may allow the development of novel therapeutic targets for diabetic heart disease.

Tim is a second year PhD student with the Heart Failure Pharmacology lab at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University. He is interested in, and his research focuses on, identifying novel treatments for heart failure that is complicated by type-2 diabetes.

Gabriella is a PhD candidate in the Cardiac Cellular Systems Lab at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. She first joined Alex Pinto's lab as a research assistant then commenced her PhD in 2022. Her work focuses on understanding the distribution of fibroblasts in healthy and stressed hearts, and the mechanisms driving fibrosis. She has a particular interest in how biological sex can drives disease in a sex-specific manner, especially in the context of cardiac fibrosis.

Justin Ren is an M.D./Ph.D. student with a strong interest in statistical analysis and a focused ambition toward a clinician-scientist career, particularly as a cardiothoracic surgeon. Justin has secured a notable role as an investigator in the groundbreaking Total Arterial (TA) Randomised Clinical Trial, backed by a significant project grant from the NHMRC MRFF Cardiovascular Scheme. His scholarly excellence is recognized through numerous awards, including the prestigious EACTS Young Investigator Award and the Research Training Program Scholarship by the Australian Commonwealth Government. His research has significantly contributed to the field of cardiothoracic surgery, with multiple first-author publications in top-tier journals (JACC) and impactful presentations at international conferences such as AHA, ESC, AATS, EACTS and STS.

Professor Livia Hool is Director, Ben Beale Laboratory in Cardiovascular Research at The University of Western Australia. She is currently President of the Australian Physiological Society. She serves on several international committees including the American Heart Association BCVS Leadership Committee and BCVS Katz Award Committee. She is currently Treasurer of International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) World Council (2022-25) and past President ISHR Australasian section (2013-16; re-elected 2016-19). Her research focuses on the role of the L-type calcium channel in the excitability of the heart and in the regulation of energetics, with an emphasis on designing therapy to prevent the development of cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

Associate Professor Nathan Palpant received PhD training at the University of Michigan and postdoctoral training at the University of Washington’s Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. In 2015 he established his independent research group at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Dr Palpant is a Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow and recipient of the International Society for Heart Research Young Investigator Award and the Lorne Genome Millennium Science Award. His research program focuses on mechanisms of cardiovascular development disease and involves interdisciplinary approaches in stem cell biology, genetics and genomics, and drug discovery. Dr Palpant is co-founder of Infensa Bioscience, which aims to develop new therapeutics for ischemic heart disease.