Michael Brainin is an Austrian neurologist and emeritus professor at the Danube University Krems. He is widely known as a pioneer in stroke research and prevention as well as a leading figure in the development of stroke units. Brainin was president of the Austrian Stroke Society, the European Stroke Organisation and the World Stroke Organization.

In 1998, Brainin co-founded the Austrian Stroke Society (ÖGSF) and was elected as its first president, where he pioneered the planning and establishment of acute stroke units. He also established the first stroke database in Austria, from which the Austrian Stroke Unit Register emerged.

From 2012 to 2014, Brainin was President of the European Stroke Organization (ESO)and from 2018 to 2020, he was President of the World Stroke Organization (WSO). In this global position he propagated the similarities of prevention strategies for stroke as well as dementia and published the "Declaration on the Prevention of Stroke and Dementia" while also developing the project 'Cut Stroke in Half'. From 2008 to 2017, Brainin was also head of the Education Committee of the WSO. In this function, he supported the development of a global network of stroke researchers as well as the educational programs for stroke physicians in numerous countries. Brainin also co-founded the World Stroke Academy, a web-based learning platform. Together with Wolf-Dieter Heiss, he developed the European Stroke Master Program[6] at the Danube University Krems in 2007, an international program for the training of stroke specialists.

Brainin is active in numerous of the WSO's activities. Together with Valery Feigin, he chairs the WSO's Global Policy Committee. He organized and co-chaired numerous international congresses, including the World Stroke Congress in 2020. Throughout his career, he represented the stroke agenda in meetings with the UN and the WHO, often jointly with the World Federation of Neurology, World Heart Federation and World Hypertension League. He is the initiator and supporter of global stroke prevention programs (such as the "Cut Stroke in Half" program). Brainin furthermore advised many countries on the creation and implementation of strategies for stroke treatment, stroke prevention and specialist training (including a training program of 9,000 doctors which he led in Vietnam, as well as other programs in Myanmar, China, Russia and the Philippines). He also supported the founding of the African Stroke Organisation.

His scientific achievements include the development of dysphagia screening, the Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS). To harmonize post-stroke care Brainin initiated the development of the Post Stroke Checklist (PSC). A focus of his research was Post-Stroke Cognitive Decline: He initiated and carried out with his team the first randomized polyintervention trial (ASPIS) for the prevention of post-stroke cognitive decline.

Professor Yao received his doctorate degree from Peking Union Medical College in 1999. He has been committed to the diagnosis and treatment of complex and difficult arrhythmias for a long time, and is an international leader in the fields of atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, sudden death and syncope. The catheter ablation he has completed is the largest series in the world, most of which are patients from all over the country and abroad with various complex and difficult or failed operations in other hospitals.

Due to his academic achievements, he became the first Chinese scholar to give lectures at the International Heart Rhythm Academic Conference, the Ventricular Tachycardia Conference, and the European, American, East Asian, and Southeast Asian Regional Conferences. He has demonstrated surgeries in more than ten countries in Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, and has accepted more than 300 specialists from the United States, Britain, Norway, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries to come to China for further study and training. He has also opened a training course for cardiac rhythm specialists from countries along the Belt and Road to help improve their cardiac rhythm diagnosis and treatment level. He has undertaken a number of national 15th, 11th, and 12th Five-Year Plan research projects and multiple international multicenter studies, and presided over a major chronic disease project in the 13th Five-Year Plan. Professor Yao serves as deputy editor-in-chief and editorial board member of many academic journals at home and abroad. Professor Yao is currently the vice chairman of the Chinese Medical Association's Cardiac Rhythm Committee and the vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering's Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology Branch. He is the chairman of the Asian Heart Rhythm Association (AHRA). He has been awarded the title of National Hundred Thousand Talents, Young and Middle-aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions, and the State Council Special Allowance. He has been selected into the National Health Science Popularization Expert Database.

Dr. Yilong Wang got his M.D-Ph.D degree in Capital Medical University and finished the post-doctoral fellowship training in University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Wang is a neurologist serving patients with cerebrovascular diseases including stroke and cerebral small vessel diseases (CSVD) and vascular cognitive impairment in Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University. Dr. Wang’s research area includes the clinical and basic research on cerebrovascular diseases and neurological rare diseases, as well as the application of engineering practices in neurological system and related innovation and development.

Over the years, Dr. Wang has contributed to identify the traditional and recent risk factors related to stroke in Chinese population, verified the therapeutic approaches including efficacy and safety of combined use of clopidogrel and aspirin in high-risk TIA and minor ischemic stroke, studied the quality improvement for acute ischemic stroke care, as well as explored the targeted genetics of stroke. Some studies have changed the therapeutic guidelines of stroke patients all over the world. In recent years, Dr. Wang focuses on the prevention and treatment of rare neurological disorders and the R&D of Intelligent Drug Delivery Systems in central nervous system.

Currently, Dr. Wang has published more than 200 scientific articles in journals with high impact factor, including NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, Circulation and JAMA Neurology, as the first or corresponding author (total IF>1000). He had more than 10 national and international patents. Dr. Wang has received many awards and honors, including the “National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars” in 2013 and the “National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars” in 2019 and renewed in 2024. He received the “Leader of Beijing Top Research Team” in 2016, the “Ten-Thousand Talent Plan” award supported by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC in 2017, the “Youth Beijing Scholar Program” and the “Young Changjiang Scholar” in 2019, “Shu-Lan Medicine Prize - Young Scholar Program” in 2020 and “Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program” in 2020. Dr. Wang also receives special allowance from Chinese State Council.

Dr. Wang serves as the Associate Director of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Society of China Stroke Association, the Director of Youth-Council of China Stroke Association, the Associate Director of Young Committee of Neurology Society of Chinese Medical Association, the Associate Director of Young Committee of Neurologist Society of Chinese Medical Doctor Association.

Vice President of Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Director of Interventional Radiology Department, Deputy Director of Neurosurgery Department, Director of Cerebral Revascularization Center, and Director of Strategic Development of National Center for Neurological Diseases. He is also the President of Jinan Hospital of Xuanwu Hospital, Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Vice Chairman of Neurointervention Committee of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Chairman of Neurointervention Expert Committee of Capacity Building and Continuing Education of National Health Commission, Expert of the Sixth Central Health Consultation, Chairman of Stroke Revascularization Committee of Chinese Medical Education Society, etc.

He has won many honors, including "Golden Lancet Award", "Capital Outstanding Young Physician Award", "Beijing Outstanding Physician Award", "Second Prize of Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award", and "Second Prize of Beijing Science and Technology Progress".

Dr. Atochin received his MD from Siberian State Medical University (Tomsk) and PhD in Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry (St.Petersburg) in Russia. Dr. Atochin was a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute of Environmental Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and in CVRC of MGH, where Dr. Atochin was promoted to Instructor and Assistant Professor.

Dr. Atochin's research combines mouse genetics, detailed physiologic and hemodynamic measurements, and animal models of human disease, including stroke, atherosclerosis, and diabetes.

Simone Calcagno, based in Civitavecchia, IT, is currently a Caridologo interventista at Ospedale San Paolo Civitavecchia. Simone Calcagno brings experience from previous roles at GVM Care & Research, Ospedale Santa Maria Goretti, Policlinico Umberto I and Ospedale Civile di Ivrea ASLTO4. Simone Calcagno holds a 2010 - 2020 Dottorato di ricerca in Fisiopatologia Cardiorespiratoria @ Sapienza Università di Roma.

Cao Yong, Chief Physician, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, Executive Deputy Director of the Neurosurgery Centre, Director of Cerebrovascular Surgery Ward 1, Secretary of the Joint Party Branch of Cerebrovascular Surgery Wards 1-2. Deputy Director of the Capital Medical University Brain Major Disease Research Institute, Deputy Director of the Cerebrovascular Disease Group of the Chinese Medical Association Neurosurgery Branch, Chairman of the Chinese Stroke Society Composite Interventional Neurosurgery Branch.

Academic Appointments
Instructor, Neurosurgery

Honors & Awards
Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association (01-01-2022)
Young Investigator Award, 13th International Symposium on Healthy Aging (03/2018)
Best Oral Presentation, The 8th Symposium for Cross-straits, Hong Kong and Macao on Free Radical Biology and Medicine (09/24/2018)
Travel Award, 2018 World life Science (10/29/2018)
Ph.D. studentship, University of Hong Kong (2011-2015)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
Member, Society for Neuroscience (2021 - Present)
Member, American Heart Association (2021 - Present)

Member of the Tumor Professional Group of the Peripheral Nerve Committee of the Chinese Medical Association
Member of the Neural Regeneration and Restoration Professional Committee of the Chinese Association of Research Hospitals
Young member of the Neurosurgery Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association, and deputy leader of the Craniocerebral Trauma Group
Young member of the Trauma Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association
Member of the American College of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
Member of the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA)
Expert in teaching the online courses of the International Neurosurgery Education and Training Series
National Natural Science Foundation Project Correspondence Review Expert
Editorial Board Member of Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine and Brian & Heart
Young Editorial Board Member of Journal of Neurorestoratology and Advanced Technology in Neuroscience
Review Expert of CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics and Neural Regeneration Research

Senior assistant professor (fixed-term) at the University of Bologna since 2024. Clinical activity conducted at the Cardiology Unit of the Morgagni-Pierantoni Hospital, Forlì. The research activity is mainly aimed at coronary and structural interventional cardiology. He participates in multicenter research projects and he is the author of many publications in peer-review journals.

Sam is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, head of the Epigenetics in Human Health and Disease lab and is internationally recognised with more than 200 articles published in journals like Circulation and Circ Res, JCI, Eur Heart J, Nucleic Acids Res, Signal Transduct Target Ther, Nat Comm, Regen Med, Diabetes, Sci Adv, Cell Rep and JCI Insight. 

Sam has developed a training program for early career scientists (ECS) in the technologies critical for epigenetics research with a major objective supervision of local and international students. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Honorary at University College Copenhagen and committed to gender, equity, diversity and inclusion for international ECS. He serves as editor and on editorial boards, an international programs advisor, and as committee chair, promoting new scientific areas and contemporary program themes for major meetings. He has developed a training program for PhD students in the major technologies critical for contemporary epigenetic research and a major objective is his supervision of national and international scientists. Sam is currently on assignment in Denmark with the Danish Diabetes Academy (DDA) professorship with the Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen (SDCC).

The purpose of the Epigenetics in Human Health and Disease lab is to close the existing clinical gap in human data as it pertains to epigenetics and diabetic complications. Combined with contemporary molecular approaches that lead to gene target identification our work will pinpoint regulatory targets that will have international outreach. This research will also see major improvements in rational drug design and advance Australia’s international reputation for excellence in medical epigenetics.

Dr. Francisco Epelde Gonzalo a specialist in Internal Medicine, Master in Ischemic Heart Disease from the Central University of Barcelona (UB), Master in Hospital Management from the UB, Master in Cardiovascular Diseases from the UB, Master in Patient of Advanced and Pluripatological Age from the UB, Master in clinical Management from the Catholic University of Murcia.

Dr. Francisco Epelde Gonzalo is Currently Medical Coordinator of the Short Stay Unit of the Parc Taulí de Sabadell University Hospital and Coordinator of the Emergency Working Group of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine. 

Dr. Francisco Epelde Gonzalo is an associate professor of the Department of Medicine of the UAB, where he is responsible of Emergency Medicine. He has been anexternal consultant in emergency medicine at WHO. Author of 250 publications and 7 book chapters.

Dr. Feng has more than 30 years of experience working in academic institutions. His research interests range from understanding fundamental rules of life and disease to translational biomedicine. Dr. Feng has expertise in structure-function of G protein-coupled receptors, signal transduction, regulation of gene transcription and splicing, generation of iPSCs and stem cell homing,  genome and epigenome editing, drug screening and discovery, exosome, mRNA synthesis and delivery. He applied his expertise to study pathogenesis and treatment strategy for cancer, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, depression, and inherited diseases. Some results from Dr. Feng’s laboratory were published in many peer-reviewed journals and applied for patent protection.

Dr. Feng was a distinguished professor of Wuhan University School of Medicine and Guangzhou Medical University in China. He served as a grant reviewer for many national foundations of USA, China, and South Africa. He has been members of many professional societies such as ASPET and ASBMB, and editorial board of many professional journals such as Biochemical Pharmacology.

Dr. Feng received his medical degree from Wuhan University School of Medicine, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Oxford. He completed his postdoctoral training in Molecular Cardiology at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Feola is an Italian Cardiologist and he is the Director of the Cardiology Division in the Hospital Regina Montis Regalis in Mondovi' (Italy). Mondovi' is a lovely city in the North-West of Italy, near the Mediterrean SEE and near beatiful mountains. The field of interest were the same for many years: heart failure and cardiovascular imaging.

Dr. Alfio Ferlito is Formerly Director of the Department of Surgical Sciences at the University of Udine School of Medicine from 2003 to 2009 and Professor and Chairman of the ENT Clinic at the same University from 1997 to 2013. He graduated in medicine at the University of Bologna in 1968. He completed his residency programme in Otolaryngology and subsequently in pathology. He worked at the ENT Department of Padua University from 1970 to 1997. Since 2009 he is the Coordinator of the International Head Neck Scientific Group.

Dr. Alfio Ferlito received many honors and awards during his career.  He served as editor, co-editor, assistant editor or reviewer for the 736 journals. He has collaborated in writing articles, editorials, commentaries, letters to the editor, special issues, book chapters and books with 665 international experts. He has edited a three-volume book entitled Cancer of the Larynx (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1985) and three other books entitled Neoplasms of the Larynx (Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1993), etc. He is Editor of four issues of ORL Journal for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery. He has been author and co-author of 657 referred publications in 70 medical journals and 54 chapters in various books. He is a fellow or a member of the many societies. He collaborated as a member of the World Health Organization’s Committee on Histological Typing of Tumors of the Upper Respiratory Tract and Ear. He is also a member of the Laryngeal Cancer Association’s Committee on the Classification of Laryngeal Cancer. He was a consultant to Yale University. He was a consultant to Yale University. He has delivered prestigious lectures all over the world. In 2006 he gave the 2nd Morrison Lecture in San Francisco and the 19th Som Lecture in New York. He has divided his professional life between clinical practice, teaching and research.

Dr. Guan is a neurologist, professor and senior researcher in Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University and Beijing Institute of Technology. Dr. Guan got her MD in Sichuan University- West China Medical School and PhD in Neurology and Neuropsychology in The University of British Columbia in Canada.

Dr. Guan focuses on the research of cerebral small vessel diseases and vascular cognitive impairment, Autonomic Nervous System, stress and hemodynamics, vagus nerve stimulation (non-invasive neuroregulation) and clinical research methodology. Dr. Guan and her team has been dedicated to clinical research in interdisciplinary sciences including neuro-psycho-cardiology and the integration of medicine and engineering for twenty years.

Dr. Guan have more than fifty high-quality publications and have been invited to give talks and host research sessions in many international conferences. Dr. Guan received research several fundings of Canadian Family and Research Institute and National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Guan also got National “High-level” Oversea-Talent Funding Program and was recommended to “HJ” project – Young Talent. Dr. Guan serves as the member of the World Stroke Organization, a committee member of the Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Branch of the Chinese Stroke Association, and a standing committee member of the Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Committee of the Beijing Society of Neurology. Dr. Guan also serves as an editorial board member and invited reviewer for several professional scientific journals.

Chief physician of surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. Nationally renowned expert, doctoral supervisor, professor/chief physician, director of neurosurgery at the South Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, expert who returned from the United States. Host of national key research and development projects, director of the "Henan International Joint Laboratory for Nervous System Malformations". Review expert of major projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology and National Natural Science Foundation projects, review expert of postgraduate thesis of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and leader of scientific and technological innovation of the Henan Provincial Health Commission.

Dr. Teruhiko Imamura is an Associate Professor at the Second Department of Medicine, University of Toyama in Japan. His research keywords and expertise include Heart Failure, Heart Transplant, Hemodynamics, Valvular Heart Disease and Mechanical Circulatory Support. 

PhD from Peking Union Medical College, associate researcher in neurology, doctoral supervisor, and national "Excellent Young Scientist".
In 2014, he went to the Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in the United States to do postdoctoral work. Since 2018, he has worked at Beijing Tiantan Hospital and the director of the office of Beijing Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine for Cerebrovascular Diseases.
Her academic part-time jobs include serving as a director of Tianjin Stroke Society, a member of the Translational Medicine Branch of the Chinese Stroke Society, a member of the Neuroimmunology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and an executive director of the Youth Council of the Chinese Stroke Society.

Deputy Director on Science and Technology, National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine, Moscow, Russia.

[part-time] Professor, Department of Dynamic Modeling and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Nano- and Biomedical Technologies, Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia.

[part-time] Director of LLC Science and Innovations, Saratov, Russia.

Dr. Vinay Kumar holds a master's degree in biotechnology from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, India, as well as a PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Presently at Pennsylvania State University, he conducts thorough studies of dysregulated innate and adaptive immunological networks and their function in modulating the pathophysiology of myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic heart failure (HF).

Dr. Kumar is especially interested in determining the function of T-cell subsets and the time-dependent phenotypic changes that these cells endure during chronic HF. In addition, he is interested in identifying and devising novel strategies to reverse pathological changes in immune cells in preparation for their transition from the laboratory to the clinic. His training in physiology, immunology, and molecular biology equips him with unique perspectives to research heart failure and develop mechanism-based, clinically applicable immune-therapeutic strategies.

Dr Zhe Kang Law, born 1982, is a consultant physician/neurologist and associate professor at the National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Training: He graduated from medical school, National University of Malaysia in 2007, passed Membership of College of Physicians, MRCP(UK) exam in 2011 and completed a Malaysian neurology subspecialty training programme in 2016. In 2019, he completed a PhD in Stroke Medicine at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom under the supervision of Professors Nikola Sprigg and Philip Bath. Between 2019 to 2021, he undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at the Lewy Body Lab, Newcastle University, UK, before returning to Malaysia in June 2021.

Research areas: His main research focus is on intracerebral haemorrhage. For his PhD thesis, he worked on data from the Tranexamic acid in IntraCerebral Haemorrhage-2 (TICH-2) randomised controlled trial. He was the Malaysian national coordinator of TICH-2 and currently ongoing Tranexamic acid for hyperacute spontaneous IntraCerebral Haemorrhage-3 (TICH-3) randomised controlled trial. He was also involved as an investigator/ trial physician for several stroke randomised controlled clinical trials, including RIGHT-2, RESTART, SOSTART, RESTORE brain, LACI-1, ATTEST-2, TASTE, TWIST, WAKE-UP and TRIDENT. 

Awards: He was awarded the Young Investigator Award 2021 by the Malaysian Stroke Council. He also won the Hoff’s Award for best oral abstract in 2017 World Intracranial Haemorrhage Conference, and institutional excellent clinical service award in 2016, and excellent publication award in 2018 and 2020. He also won the Malaysian Society of Neurosciences best publication award for 2020 and 2022.

Professional: He is a member of World Stroke Organisation, European Stroke Organisation, Malaysian Stroke Council, Malaysian Society of Neurosciences and Malaysian Academy of Medicine. He is a Fellow of Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). He is a member of editorial board for European Stroke Journal and an associate editor for Neurology Asia. He is a reviewer for several stroke/neurology journals including European Stroke Journal, Stroke and Vascular Neurology, Translational Stroke Research, International Journal of Stroke, Cerebrovascular Diseases, Neurology Asia, Frontiers in Neurology, BMJ Open and Thrombosis Research. He has given platform presentations in local and international conferences including in European Stroke Organisation Conference, World Stroke Congress, UK Stroke Forum and Malaysian Stroke Conference.

Publications: He has authored 64 journal articles to date including in the Lancet, European Stroke Journal, Stroke, International Journal of Stroke, Translational Stroke Research, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, JNNP and JAMA Neurology. His h-index is 16 (google-scholar citations). He is also a member of the evidence reviewer team for the 6th National Clinical Guideline for Stroke for the UK and Ireland, which is currently being drafted. He is coordinating the first Malaysian guideline on management of intracerebral haemorrhage.

In Private: He is happily married to Swee Wei, a lung transplant physician, to whom he provides statistical service on occasions. They have a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. He is a chess fanatic and dreamt of becoming a chess grandmaster before he took up a medical career. 

Dr. Djamel Lebeche, PhD, FAHA, FACC, is currently a Professor at the Department of Physiology, a Graduate Faculty at the College of Graduate Health Sciences, and a member of the neuroscience Institute at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Lebeche graduated from the department of Physiology at Boston University School of Medicine where he received his Master and PhD degrees in Molecular Physiology. After completing his post-doctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School/Boston, he was appointed as an instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School before assuming Assistant and then Associate Professor positions at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY.
Dr. Lebeche primary research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways contributing to the pathophysiology of hypertrophy and heart failure, with a particular emphasis on the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy and cardiometabolism, understanding the pathophysiology of the disorders as well as response to various established and newly discovered therapies. We utilize multidisciplinary approaches ranging from discovery science in patient biological samples to mechanistic studies in cell-based systems, transgenic mice, and animal models of heart failure. Our aim is to provide new insights into the genetic, epigenetic, and cellular mechanisms that regulate diabetic heart failure and risk of metabolic diseases with an eye toward genetic and pharmacological therapeutic interventions. A second research focus involves discovering novel small molecules suitable for clinical development as novel therapeutical agents to treat heart failure, diabetes, and other metabolic diseases. The long-term scientific goal is to explore new targetable pathologic genes and relevant drugs that have significant clinical and curative impact on metabolic cardiomyopathies. As a means to this end, our work has thus far uncovered for the first time the importance of a paradigm for the antagonistic crosstalk between calcium homeostasis and adipokines bioactivity in cardiac metabolism and patho-function, and the discovery of small molecules/drugs that provide protection against glycemia intolerance and metabolic disorders in vivo. These novel compounds have demonstrated strong therapeutic potential in type 2 diabetes in pre-clinical animal studies and therefore will be invaluable to treat diabetes and its metabolic and cardiovascular complications. Our functional cardiovascular genetic studies have led to major findings related to syndromic variants causing different human dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy phenotypes.
Dr. Lebeche’s research has been supported by grant awards from the national Institutes of Health (NIH), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and other sources. Dr. Lebeche is a member of a number of professional societies and served as a reviewer for NIH, the DoD and many national and international associations and foundations. He is currently an editorial board member of Nature Scientific Reports. In addition to his research activities, Dr. Lebeche has a passion for mentoring and training the next generation of cardiovascular scientists.

Doctor of Neurology, Chief Physician. Director of the Department of Neurology, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Mainly engaged in the treatment of acute and critical cerebrovascular diseases: thrombolytic therapy for acute cerebrovascular diseases and monitoring and treatment of complications in critically ill patients. Visiting scholar at the Neurology Center of the Royal Melbourne University, Australia, and the OSF/INI Comprehensive Stroke Center in Beacon, Illinois, USA. Also serves as Vice Chairman of the Youth Council of the Chinese Stroke Society, Vice Chairman of the Medical Quality Management and Promotion Branch of the Chinese Stroke Society, and Supervisor of the First Supervisory Board of the Chinese Stroke Society.

Professional expertise: Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various acute and chronic cerebrovascular diseases, especially cardiogenic stroke. Comprehensive treatment of neurological critical illness. Diagnosis and treatment of dizziness, headache, Parkinson's disease, and cognitive dysfunction.

Dr. Liu currently served as Professor of Cardiology in Tianjin Medical University; Deputy director of Tianjin Institute of Cardiology and an electrophysiologist in Department of Cardiology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, 300211, Tianjin, P.R. China. His current interests concern the study of atrial fibrillation and arrhythmias. Secondly. He also participate in some researches in the field of Cardio-oncology and heart failure. Furthermore, He has participated in several clinical research protocols that cover a wide range of issues in Cardiology and Internal Medicine. He has published more than 200 papers in Peer-reviewed medical journals, including 110 papers with first/co-first/corresponding/co-corresponding authors. 

Dr. Saurav Mallik is currently working as Research Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Arizona, USA. Previously, he worked as Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA for more than three years (2019-2022), the Center of Precision Health, Department of School of Biomedical Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA for one and half year (2018-2019), and in the Division of Bio-statistics, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA for more than one year (2017-2018).  He obtained his PhD degree in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering (C.S.E.) from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India in 2017 while his PhD works carried out in Machine Intelligence Unit (MIU), Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, India. He worked previously at ISI, Kolkata, India as a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) in DST (Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi, Govt. of India)-sponsored Swarnajayanti project and as a Visiting Scientist (VS) for a total of more than 3 years (2011-2013 & 2015-2016). He also worked in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India as UGC (University Grant Commission, Govt. of India) Research Fellow for 2 years (2014-2015 & 2016-2017). He is the recipient of Research Associate-ship (RA) from CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), MHRD, Govt. of India in 2017. He also worked as assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in Mallabhum Institute of Technology, Bisnupur, WB, India (currently on leave). He is also recipient of "Emerging Researcher In Bioinformatics" award from Bioclues & BIRD Award steering committee, India (http://bioclues.org/) in the year 2020 and "Young scientist award" on “International Scientist Awards on Engineering, Science and Medicine" (ISAO 2021) from a non-profit organization, VDGOOD Professional Association of Scientists, Engineers and Doctors, India in the year 2021. He received two times Travel Grant Award for International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM), June 2018 at Los Angeles, California, USA and August 2021 at Philadelphia, PA, USA. Dr. Mallik has coauthored more than 180 research papers in various peer-reviewed International Journals, Conferences and Book Chapters. He also has more than 20 authored/edited book publication in Taylor & Francis, River publishers, IET, Springer, Bentham, etc. His papers are highly cited (google scholar citation >1850 and h-index=22). He attended many national and international conferences in USA and India. He is currently an active member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), USA and life member of BIOCLUES, India (http://bioclues.org/). He is also member of international advisory committee of many reputed engineering colleges in India. His research areas include Data mining, computational biology, bioinformatics, Bio-statistics and machine learning.

Giuseppe Mancia is Professor Emeritus at the University Milano-Bicocca, after serving for 20 years as Chairman of the Division and Department of Internal Medicine at the same university at the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza and Director of the Interuniversity (Universities of Milano, Milano-Bicocca, and Pavia) Center for Clinical Physiology and Hypertension. He was Chairman (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2017) of the Scientific and Organizing Committee of ESH meetings, and is a past President of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), European Society of Hypertension (ESH), European Society of Clinical Investigation, and Italian Society of Hypertension. He chaired the Task Force of the ESH/ESC Hypertension Guidelines in 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2018. Professor Mancia is currently Chairman of the ESH Foundation. He is an honorary member of several hypertension and cardiovascular societies and has received many awards, including the Excellence Research Award of AHA, the Heymans Award of the International Society of Pharmacology, the Volhard and Tigersted Awards of the ISH, the Folkow Award of the ESH, the International Recordati Prize, the Invernizzi Prize for Medicine, the Spinoza Honorary Professorship of the University of Amsterdam, the Gold Medal of the Lorenzini Foundation, an Honorary Professorship of the University of Córdoba, an Honoris Causa Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Gdansk, Bucharest (Carol Davila), and Glasgow, the Hariri Memorial Lecture and Award, the MacDonald Award of McMaster University (Hamilton) and the Cleveland Clinic Lecture. Professor Mancia’s research focuses on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of hypertension, heart failure, coronary and other cardiovascular diseases. He has edited more than 20 books on hypertension and cardiovascular diseases and published more than 2400 articles in peer review international journals. His articles have received more than 240,000 citations (H-index 182, Microsoft Academics, December 2021).He has been Deputy and Chief Editor of the Journal of Hypertension (1995-2021)

Dr. Jose Carlos Pachon Mateos is currently Chief Physician of the Pacemaker Service at the Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology, Director of the Pacemaker and Arrhythmia Electrophysiology Service at the Heart Hospital, Chief Physician - Pacemaker and Arrhythmia Electrophysiology Service Dr. Pachón, and Chief Physician of the Arrhythmia Service at Professor Edmundo Vasconcelos Hospital. He has experience in Medicine, with an emphasis on Cardiac Arrhythmias, Cardiac Pacemakers, Defibrillators, and Electrophysiology, working primarily in the following areas: arrhythmia, electrophysiology, pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization devices, and defibrillators.

Professor Aynur Özge is Professor of Neurology, Algology and Clinical Neurophysiology at Mersin University School of Medicine Department of Neurology in Turkey, an international lecturer, writer, and president of Global Migraine and Pain Summit together with MENA Organisation.

She is Co-Editor of three international books, two of them about childhood headaches, the other about peripheral interventions in headache medicine.

She has been an active member of IHS since 2004, and has actively served in the Child and Adolescent and Classification committees. She was elected to serve as a Co-opted Board member of the Society for the 2019–2021 term.

Professor Özge has served as the Organising Committee Chair of the 7th International Child-Adolescent Headache Congress held in Istanbul in 2008. She is the Organising Committee Chair of the 4th MENA and 2nd Turkish-African Migraine-Pain Congress, which was held in Antalya in 2020. She is the President of the Global Migraine Pain Summit, established in 2019 to raise social awareness about migraine and painful syndromes.

Professor Özge's H index score, is 26. She is the author of two public information books which are on sale to benefit various NGOs.

I am an open cerebrovascular fellow at Barrow Neurological Institute. I completed neurosurgery residency at University of Rochester. During residency I developed interest in cerebral aneurysms both in preventing rupture and improving outcomes in delayed cerebral ischemia after rupture. I performed grant funded research on the role of vitamin D deficiency and senescent cells in the formation and rupture of aneurysms. I conducted two trials, including a multi-center randomized control trial on use of lumbar drains in the reduction of DCI. These experiences led to a textbook on management of lumbar drains and external ventricular drains. I also constructed, funded, and managed a state-of-the-art skull base laboratory. I also have a strong interest in innovation and device development. 

Prof Sutton became Professor of Clinical Cardiology at Imperial College, London in 2003 and Emeritus Professor in 2011. He is now Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. From 1990 to 1995, he was President of British Heart Rhythm Society (then BPEG) after being Co-Founder in 1976. He has written and edited six books and published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, primarily on the topics of pacing and syncope.

Prof Sutton is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Heart Rhythm Society, among others. He has served as President of the Royal Society of Medicine Cardiology Section and actively participates in the British Cardiovascular Society and the British Medical Association.

Gustavo is a Professor of Medicine, Neurologist, Senior Scientist, and Healthcare Consultant at the University of Toronto. He holds a Master’s in Public Health (Epidemiology, Statistics) from Harvard and Buenos Aires Universities, a PhD in Neuroeconomics from the University of Zurich, and Leadership Certification from the Rotman School of Management and the Ontario Medical Association. With over 25 years as a clinician-scientist, educator, and team leader, he has become a recognized expert in his field.

Academic Work: Gustavo’s international acclaim is reflected through 30 grants as a principal investigator, 12 personal awards, 300+ peer-reviewed publications, keynote speaking invitations, contributions to 10 international best-practice guidelines, and service on advisory boards (e.g., World Stroke Organization, American Heart Association, Ontario Ministry of Health). His research integrates different disciplines: physiological methods, behavioral sciences, clinical research, psychology, and decision neuroscience to conduct research across observational studies, randomized trials, and meta-analyses.

Paul Schoenhagen, MD, is a Physician in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine. His clinical interest is focused on cardiovascular imaging with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. He is also involved in work related to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Schoenhagen has a special interest in imaging of coronary atherosclerosis and imaging of the aorta and aortic root.

A native of Koblenz, Germany, Dr. Schoenhagen graduated with a degree in mineralogy from the Ruhr-Universitaet, Bochum, Germany. He received his medical degree from the Karls-Universitaet, Tuebingen, and doctoral degree from the Philips-Universitaet, Marburg, also in Germany. He received his initial clinical training in internal medicine and radiology in Stuttgart, Germany. This was followed by a residency in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic, and subsequent fellowships in cardiology and in cardiovascular tomography, also at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Schoenhagen was appointed to Cleveland Clinic in 2003.

Dr. Schoenhagen has been honored for his clinical research, which has focused on the implications of plaque vulnerability, intravascular ultrasound research and the application of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for atherosclerosis research.

He has published numerous original and review articles in leading peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the European Heart Journal, and the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Dr. Schoenhagen is first author of a textbook of Coronary Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging, and a textbook of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He has contributed to several chapters in other medical textbooks related to his specialty interests. He has been invited to present his clinical experience and research at medical symposia and conferences in Japan, Europe, and nationally.

Dr. Schoenhagen is a Fellow of the Council on Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology of the American Heart Association. He is a member of the American College of Physicians, the European Society of Cardiology and the Radiologic Society of North America. He is an affiliate member of the American College of Cardiology.

Primary Position:  Associate Professor, YLL School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Dr. Vijay K Sharma is Associate Professor at National University of Singapore, Singapore and Senior Consultant Neurologist at National University Hospital, Singapore. He is the current recipient of the prestigious Senior Clinician Scientist Award from National Medical Research Council, Ministry of Health, Singapore.

He has co-authored 375 peer-reviewed papers in reputed scientific journals including New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Lancet Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Circulation, Neurology and Stroke etc. He has edited 2 books and co-authored 43 book chapters.

He is member of Stroke Guidelines Committee at World Stroke Organization and Co-Chair of WSO oversight committee for International Journal of Stroke. He serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Neurology, BMC Neurology, Exploration of Neuroprotective Therapy and British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research. He serves on the editorial boards of many scientific journals including Stroke, Journal of Neuroimaging, Journal of Stroke etc. His research interests include acute stroke thrombolysis, intracranial stenosis and advanced applications of cerebrovascular ultrasonography in cerebrovascular ischemia.

Dr. Huaxin Sheng is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center. He received his medical degree and advanced training in neurosurgery in China. In 1996, he joined Dr. David S Warner’s laboratory at Duke where he has developed a number of mouse disease models, including ischemic stroke, cardiac arrest, and subarachnoid hemorrhage models. His current research is focused on preclinical development of novel pharmaceutical treatments for stroke and related vascular diseases.

Head of Neuroimmunology Group, Neurology Branch, Chinese Medical Association
Chairman of China Neuroimmunology Alliance
Chairman of Tianjin Stroke Society
Member of the Core Decision Committee and Chairman of the Academic Committee of Pan-Asian Treatment and Research for Multiple Sclerosis (PACTRIMS)
Member of the American College of Cardiology
Chairman of Tianjin Neurology Branch
Standing Member of the Committee of Neurology Branch, Chinese Medical Association
Member of the American Neurological Association
Member of the American Immunology Association

Dr. Sia Ching Hui obtained his medical education at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, graduating in 2012. In 2015, he was granted membership in the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom, followed by the completion of his Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine in 2016. Dr. Sia successfully finished his Internal Medicine Residency in 2017 at NUHS, where he also served as the Academic Chief Resident. Subsequently, he completed his Cardiology Senior Residency with NUHS in 2020. During his residency training, he participated in the Singapore Chief Residency Programme (Cohort 6). In 2021, Dr. Sia attained his Master of Clinical Investigation degree from NUS, supported by a Ministry of Health Healthcare Research Scholarship, and followed it with an Executive Master of Business Administration from the Quantic School of Business and Technology in 2022.

Dr. Sia's clinical and research interests revolve around the utilization of multi-modality cardiac imaging to explore disease mechanisms, facilitate diagnosis, prognosis, and guide patient management. He has a strong interest in Cardio-Neurology and cardiomyopathies.

Additionally, Dr. Sia concurrently holds an academic appointment as a Junior Academic Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine through the selective Junior Academic Fellowship Scheme. To date, he has secured several research grants, including the National Medical Research Council's Clinician Scientist Individual Research Grant New Investigator Grant in 2021 and the Transition Award in 2023. Dr. Sia has a publication record of over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He serves on the Cardiovascular Disease National Collaborative Enteprise (CADENCE) executive committee. He also serves as a Cardiology specialty editor for the Singapore Medical Journal and sits on the editorial boards of multiple journals. He frequently presents at international conferences and actively contributes as a reviewer for various journals.

Moreover, Dr. Sia is a dedicated educator. In 2018, he received a Certificate in Medical and Health Professions Education from the Centre for Medical Education at NUS, and in 2019, he completed the NUHS Medical Education Distinction Track Residency. Dr. Sia regularly conducts tutorials for medical students, serves as an examiner, and fulfills mentoring roles within different mentorship programs associated with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He was previously awarded the NUS Medicine Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He possesses substantial experience in organizing courses and overseeing students' clinical and research attachments.

International Expert in Neuro-Cardiology, Chronobiology and Nutraceuticals, antioxidants (Regenerative Medicine).

1.Stanford Univ. List 2020, One of Top Four CVD Scientist of India and out of 1500 top CVD scientists in the world.

2.Received 12 International awards including Dr Zumkley Memorial award;

3.Fellow of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, Winnepeg, Canada, 2014

4.President, Tsim Tsoum Institute, Krakow, Poland. Member, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Former President & Founder, Indian Society of Hypertension, International College of Cardiology and International College of Nutrition.

5.President, Indian Society of Chronomedicine 2017-2018.

6.Fellow, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2019, Russian Adedemy of Medical Sciences, Lifetime Achievement award 2020, Indian Society of Hypertension.

Professor of Internal Medicine - Cardiovascular Medicine

Edith King Pearson Chair in Cardiovascular Research

Dr. Zhonghua Sun is a Professor of Medical Radiation Science at Curtin University, Perth, Australia. He obtained his PhD in 2002 from the University of Ulster, where he worked as a lecturer in radiography for two and a half years before joining Curtin University as a lecturer of medical radiation science in 2005. His research interests include 3D medical image visualization and processing, in particular cardiovascular CT imaging and 3D printing, virtual reality, and AI in cardiovascular diseases. He has published five books, 14 book chapters, and more than 350 refereed papers in medical and medical imaging journals. He is a Fellow of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. He also serves as an Associate Editor/Academic Editor for six journals and is an Editorial Board Member for more than 20 international imaging/medical journals.

Dr. Benjamin Tan is a Vascular Neurologist at the National University Hospital in Singapore, specializing in the care of young adults with ischemic stroke. In addition to his clinical practice, he serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), and holds a joint appointment as Principal Investigator with the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR. He also contributes to the local academic community as Specialty Editor (Neurology) for the Singapore Medical Journal. Dr. Tan is also a committee member of the New Scientific Initiatives Taskforce of the Council on Stroke, European Society of Cardiology (ESC). 

Dr. Tan was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow from 2024-2025, training in computational biology and stroke genetics at the Centre for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, USA under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Rosand and Professor Christopher D Anderson. His current research focuses on ischemic stroke in young adults, including the characterization of genetics and biomarkers that help in understanding the disease pathogenesis, predicting severity, recovery and long term outcomes. He also has a special interest in distilling and investigating the heart-brain interactions that surround ischemic stroke. He has published more than 250 manuscripts in international peer-reviewed journals including the Lancet Public Health, JAMA Neurology, Stroke, Journal of Stroke and International Journal of Stroke, and has been recognized on Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List in 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

Francesco Tona, MD, PhD, FAHA, FESC is professor of cardiology, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, Padua, Italy. Professor Tona’s key achievements include research on the development of new noninvasive diagnostic tools for evaluating cardiac allograft function in heart transplantation, with particular interests in allograft vasculopathy and coronary microvascular injury; new diagnostic tools (echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance) to identify microvascular dysfunction in cardiomyopathies and heart failure; the aetiology of cardiac allograft vasculopathy; the aetiopathogenesis of cardiomyopathies and myocarditis; determination of new prognostic indexes in heart failure (biomarkers and imaging); the development of new diagnostic and prognostic tools in pulmonary hypertension and embolism; and cardiac involvement in systemic inflammatory diseases and endocrine diseases.

Ulrich F. W. Franke, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Robert Bosch Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany

Matthias Schwab, Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and University of Tuebingen, Stuttgart, Germany

Sotirios Tsimikas, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego

Arnold von Eckardstein, Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University of Zurich and University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

President, Paolo Procacci Foundation (FPP), Rome, Italy;
Coordinator, VIBRA Group (Visionary International Board for Research and Analgesia), Research Department of the Paolo Procacci Foundation; 
Honorary Professor of Pain Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.

Giustino Varrassi is a physician-scientist and former Full Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of L’Aquila, Italy. His academic and scientific activity has focused on anesthesiology, perioperative medicine, and pain medicine, with extensive experience in international scientific leadership, research, medical education, and scientific publishing. He currently serves as President of the Paolo Procacci Foundation, coordinates its VIBRA research group, and is Editor-in-Chief of Pain and Therapy and Anesthesiology Insights.

Wang Yibo is a researcher and doctoral supervisor at the Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and a PI of the State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Diseases at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases. He has won the National Excellent Young Scientist Fund, Peking Union Medical College Rising Star, Xicheng District 100 Talents, and Beijing Science and Technology Rising Star. He is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Youth Federation of Xicheng District, Beijing, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Molecular Cardiology, the editorial board member of the Chinese version of Nature Reviews Cardiology, and the editorial board member of the Chinese Journal of Misdiagnosis Medicine.

Professor, Biomedical Engineerin, 2021-Present

Professor and Chairperson, Department of Physiology Augusta University, 1999-2020

Professor (Assistant to Full), University of Michigan, 1979-99

Research Associate, Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen, 1978-79

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, 1976-78

University of Iowa, Ph.D. (Anatomy), 1973-76

Southern Illinois University, M.S. (Physiology), 1971-73

Southern Illinois University, B.A. (Physiology), 1967-71

Zhang Wei, MD, is a postdoctoral fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States. He is a neurosurgeon, chief physician, associate professor, doctoral supervisor, and deputy director of the Fifth Department of Neurosurgery Tumors at Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University. He is specialized in: minimally invasive surgical treatment of common cranial brain tumors, especially surgical treatment and postoperative comprehensive treatment of gliomas in the functional areas of the brain, and has been engaged in the research of molecular mechanisms and innovative diagnosis and treatment technologies of gliomas for a long time.

He is also a member of the Youth Council of the China Anti-Cancer Association, deputy director of the Youth Committee of the Brain Glioma Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, national member of the Brain Glioma Professional Committee of the China Anti-Cancer Association, standing member of the Neuro-Oncology Branch of the Chinese Society of Neuroscience, and member of the American Society of Neuro-Oncology.