David Jenkins is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK. He graduated from medical school at the University of London in 1989, with a first class intercalated BSc in Physiology, and trained in surgery in London. Following a 2-year formal research period investigating ischaemic preconditioning and myocardial protection at the Hatter Institute at University College London, Mr Jenkins was awarded Master of Surgery from London University in 1997. He undertook his cardiothoracic surgical training in West London at Harefield, Hammersmith and St George’s hospitals, and was appointed as Consultant at Papworth Hospital in 2001. Mr Jenkins has experience in all aspects of adult cardiac surgery. Specialist experience includes surgical treatment of pulmonary hypertension, heart and lung transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In 2004, he became director of the UK national pulmonary endarterectomy programme (PEA) for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). He is an executive board member of the International CTEPH Association. He is a member of the scientific board of the World Symposium Pulmonary Hypertension Association. He served as divisional director for surgery and transplantation at Royal Papworth hospital from 2016-2026. His research interests are related to myocardial protection, pulmonary hypertension and PEA surgery. He is a member of Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in GB&I, European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation and the American Association of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr William J. Tucker is a Resident Medical Officer practicing at Tweed Valley Hospital. Graduating from UNSW in 2024 with first class honours, distinction and the Head of Campus award at the Port Macquarie Rural Clinical School, William has developed an interest in Cardiology, with a passion for rural and Indigenous health, medical education/mentorship and research. His research endeavours started with his honours year in 2022 at the School of Medical Sciences at UNSW Sydney where he investigated the predictive performance of novel biomarkers for prospective heart failure development. Since, Dr Tucker is an affiliate at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre through the University of Sydney where he is contributing to a range of ongoing projects. Key research interests include biomarkers, heart failure, electrophysiology, clinical translational research, and the development of predictive models for cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Jay Ravindran is an interventional research fellow at Royal Prince Alfred and Concord Hospitals, and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. His research focuses on novel mechanisms and therapeutic options for patients with angina and non-obstructive coronary artery disease and he was awarded the NHMRC grant in support of his PhD research in 2025.

Annora is a Master of Philosophy student at the University of Western Australia. Having graduated from her Doctor of Medicine Degree in 2024, she is also a Resident Medical Officer at Fiona Stanley Hospital. Annora’s current work includes artificial intelligence-based and non-linear fractal analyses of cardiac imaging parameters, molecular profiling in sarcoidosis, and identification of novel carbon dioxide receptors in patients with heart failure. Outside of her research, Annora enjoys supervising and mentoring medical and undergraduate students interested in research.

Justin Ren, PhD, is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on coronary artery bypass grafting strategies, particularly multiple and total arterial revascularisation, and their long-term clinical outcomes. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading cardiovascular journals, including European Heart Journal, JACC, JAMA Network Open, and Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Dr Ren is an investigator on a national randomized trial of total arterial grafting funded by a $5 million grant and has received international recognition, including the EACTS Young Investigator Award.

Dr Emily Granger is a Cardiothoracic and Heart Lung Transplant surgeon. Her areas of interest include TAVI, ECMO, transplants and trauma surgery. Emily completed her medical degree at the University of Queensland (1997) and her surgical fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in 2006. She is involved with the NSW Organ Tissue Donation Service and Deceased Donor Organ Procurement, and, in 2014, was involved in the world’s first successful ‘donation after circulatory death’ heart transplant. Since then, the Transplant Unit at St Vincent’s Hospital has performed over 100 DCD heart transplants. Dr Granger lectures at the Clinical Medical School at St Vincent’s Hospital and the University of Notre Dame, and is active in teaching medical students, junior doctors, and trainee surgeons. She is an EMST and CCRISP instructor with RACS. In 2017, she was appointed to the Board of Cardiothoracic Surgical Examiners. She is currently the President of the ANZ Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons.

Jason Kovacic graduated from The University of Melbourne Medical School in 1994, and then undertook residency and cardiology specialty training at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. Jason then completed a PhD at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, focusing on the application of cell therapy to treat patients with refractory ischemic heart disease. In 2007 Dr. Kovacic relocated to the USA, to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. At the NIH, Jason undertook a 2 year postdoctoral fellowship with the then Director of the NHLBI, Dr. Elizabeth Nabel. In 2009 Jason moved to Mount Sinai in New York. As a physician-scientist and investigator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Jason established a cardiovascular research laboratory with a strong interest in the cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying cardiovascular disease. He also established a large clinical practice as an interventional and clinical cardiologist. Major career scientific achievements include successful investigator-initiated clinical studies of cardiovascular progenitor cell therapy, molecular characterization of a novel vascular progenitor cell population, unravelling the pathobiology of fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous coronary artery dissection, numerous basic and translational studies on the biology and manifestations of atherosclerosis, and pioneering studies regarding the role of endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) in adult vascular biology and disease. In early 2020 Jason was recruited to return Australia, and to take on the role of the Executive Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. In this role, he leads one of the world’s leading Cardiovascular Research Institutes. Jason has now established his research program at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, where he will continue his focus on cardiac and vascular diseases, including fibromuscular dysplasia and spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Jason currently holds the positions of the Robert M. Graham Professor of Cardiovascular Research at University of New South Wales, and continues his appointment as Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA. Jason has given over 80 US and other international invited presentations, has served on many US NIH committees and panels, and received several awards. In 2018 he received 2 distinct awards – one as a clinician and the other as a scientist - the Cullman Family Award for Excellence in Physician Communication (for ranking in the top 1% nationally in the USA in provider communication by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CGCAHPS patient experience survey), and the 2018 Dean’s Healthcare System Team Science Award at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.