Gemma is a Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney and an Interventional Cardiologist at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. She is the Chair of the University of Sydney’s multi-disciplinary Cardiovascular Initiative. Gemma is committed to improving the care for heart attack patients, unravelling key mechanisms underlying susceptibility and response to heart attack, with studies extending from the bench to large cohort studies and clinical trials. Discoveries in her Laboratory have been published in leading journals including the Lancet, Circulation, JACC and European Heart Journal, with > 250 publications. Gemma is a principal investigator on grants >$42 Mill. Her discoveries and innovative strategies have resulted in a US patent, and 5 provisional patents spanning diagnostic and therapeutic fields. Gemma is founder and CSO for Australian start-ups Prokardia and Kardiomics, and the not-for-profit CAD Frontiers Pty Ltd. She was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Excellence Award for Top Ranked Practitioner Fellow (Australia- 2018), NSW Ministerial Award for Cardiovascular Research Excellence (2019) and was the second female to be awarded the prestigious Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand RT Hall Prize for outstanding and sustained research achievement (2023). Gemma serves as a member of the Editorial Board of leading international journals including Circulation and Cardiovascular Research and an Associate Editor for Heart, Lung and Circulation. She is a passionate advocate for cardiovascular research, working as President of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance with a national team to secure $220 Million Federal funding for the Mission for Cardiovascular Health, and to build new pathways for research to best serve the unmet health needs of Australians. She chairs the MRFF Mission (CV) Expert Advisory Panel. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and serves/has served as a non-executive Director on multiple community Boards, including the Heart Foundation. In 2023, Gemma was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), in the Australia Day Honours.

Prof Tomasz Guzik's research focuses on understanding how inflammation and oxidation intersect in vascular biology, especially in the context of hypertension. His group most important contributions include understanding the mechanisms of oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction in humans (Circ Res, 2000; Circulation, 2002; JACC; 2008; J Clin Invest, 2022) and, more recently, the defining novel role of inflammation and adaptive immunity in hypertension (J Exp Med, 2007; Circulation, 2020; Circ Res, 2020). His most recent work focused on identifying neuroimmune reflexes controlling atherosclerosis (Nature, 2022). In 2021, he was recognised as a Highly Cited Scientist by Clarivate. He published over 250 original studies with top-cited papers receiving >1000 citations (WoS H factor – 65; with a total of 18900 citations). His group is currently funded primarily by the European Research Council, European Commission and the British Heart Foundation. Prof Guzik is an Editor-in-Chief of Cardiovascular Research, serves as a board member of the European Society of Cardiology, Chairperson of the European Society of Cardiology Research and EU Grants Committee, and Treasurer of the British Atherosclerosis Society.

Professor Zoe Wainer is the inaugural Director General of the Australian Centre for Disease Control, responsible for establishing and leading Australia’s national public health agency and strengthening the country’s preparedness for future health threats. The Australian CDC provides independent, evidence-based advice on disease prevention, surveillance and response to safeguard the health of Australians. Professor Wainer is a values-driven C-suite health leader with experience across government, academia and the private sector. She previously served as Deputy Secretary for Community and Public Health at the Victorian Department of Health and as Chief Medical Officer for Bupa Australia and New Zealand. A medical doctor with a background in cardiothoracic surgery and a PhD from the University of Melbourne, she has expertise in public health, value-based healthcare and women’s health. Professor Wainer has worked internationally in global health, including public health initiatives in Timor-Leste and surgical programs in Fiji and Tonga.

Prof. Filippo Crea, FESC, was born in Cosenza, Italy on 19 September 1953. He graduated from Pisa Medical School with full honours in 1977 and passed the Postgraduate Boards in both Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Diseases, again with full honours, at Pisa Medical School in 1980 and 1983 respectively. During the whole of 1984 he was Research Fellow at the Division of Cardiology of the University of Florida, directed by Professor Richard C. Conti. From 1985 to 1991 he was Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant at the Cardiovascular Research Unit of the Hammersmith Hospital in London, directed by Professor Attilio Maseri. He returned to Italy upon his appointment as Chief of the Catheterization Laboratory at the Institute of Cardiology of the Catholic University of Rome. In 2000 he became Associate Professor of Cardiology and Chief of the Intensive and Sub-Intensive Care Unit. In 2001 he became Professor of Cardiology, Director of the Institute of Cardiology, Director of the Postgraduate School in Cardiology and of the PhD program in Clinical Research in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Catholic University of Rome. From October 2008 to January 2020 he was Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences. From February 2020 to October 2023 he was Director of the University Department of Cardiovascular and Pneumological Sciences. Since November 2023 he is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Gemelli-Isola Tiberina Hospital. He is Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology, founder and Past Chairman of the Working Group on Coronary Pathophysiology and Microcirculation, Past Member of the Education Committee, Past Member of the ESC Congress Program Committee, co-author of Guidelines on chronic coronary syndromes (2013), NSTEMI (2017), UDMI (2019). Since 2020 he is Editor-in-Chief of the “European Heart Journal” and since 2022 Chairman of ESC Publications Committee. In 1992 he received from Nobel Prize Professor Rita Levi Montalcini the Newburg Prize for his scientific contribution to the cardiovascular research. In 2013 he received the Arrigo Recordati International Prize for lifetime achievement in researching the pivotal role of microcirculation in systemic and organ diseases. In 2015 he delivered the 7th annual Robert L. Krakoff International Lecture in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University Medical School. His main field of interest is the study of mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ischemic heart disease. He is the author of more than 1500 publications in peer reviewed journals with an H-Index of 95.