Programming – BCVS Scientific Sessions 2025

Registration and Exhibits

Early Career Pre-Conference Session 1: Next Best Thing

Moderators:
Peiheng Gan, PhD, UT Southwestern, USA
Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin, PhD, St Boniface Hospital Research, Canada

Speakers:
9:15-9:27
m6A mRNA Modifications Regulate Metabolic Transition During Cardiogenesis
Shunyao Lei, MS, Johns Hopkins University, USA

9:27-9:39
RBX1 Is an Indispensable, Dosage-Sensitive Regulator of Perinatal Heart Development
Josue Zambrano-Carrasco, BA, Augusta University, USA

9:39-9:51
Pharmacological Inhibition of DYRK1A Induces Cardiomyocyte Cell Cycle Activity
Bryce Murillo, BS, University of Virginia, USA

9:51-10:03
Dynamic Landscape of RNA Isoforms in Heart Maturation
Woan Ting Tay, MSc, BS, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

10:03-10:15
REDD1 regulates cardiac metabolism via an mTORC1-independent, PPARα-dependent mechanism
Mason Wheeler, BS, Virginia Tech, USA

Early Career Pre-Conference Session 2: Next Best Thing

Moderators:
Cat Makarewich, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA
Chi Fung Lee, PhD, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, USA

Speakers:
10:45-10:57
Genetically Barcoded Multiplex Single Cell Analysis of Variants in Congenital Heart Disease
Feng Xiao, PhD, Harvard Medical School, USA

10:57-11:09
Heart Tube Morphogenesis Is Regulated By Segment-Specific Gene Regulatory Networks Controlled By MEF2C
Jonathon Muncie-Vasic, BSE, PhD, University of California San Francisco, USA

11:09-11:21
Pseudo-acetylation of actin K326 and K328 reduces tropomyosin-based inhibition of cardiac contraction
Kripa Chitre, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, USA

11:21-11:33
Mitochondrial GRK2 dependent regulation of myocardial cellular and transcriptional composition after ischemic injury
Samuel Slone, BS, PhD, Duke University, USA

11:33-11:45
Lipoylation is required for Cardiac Function and Metabolism
Trevor Tippetts, PhD, MS, BS, UT Southwestern, USA

Session 1: Cardiac Sarcomeres and Myofilaments

Moderators:
Sharlene Day, MD, University of Pennsylvania, USA
KC Woulfe, PhD, University of Colorado, USA

1:30-1:50
Novel Insights into Sarcomere Structure
Stefan Raunser, PhD, Max Plank Institute, Germany

1:50-2:10
Functional Modulation of the Thick Filament in Disease
Michael Greenberg, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

2:10-2:30
Integrative Sarcomere Mechanisms Underlying Genetic Cardiomyopathy
Jil Tardiff, PhD, University of Arizona, USA

2:30-2:45 pm
Physiological Stress and Cardiomyocyte Cycling Drive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with MYBPC3 truncation mutation
Caitlin M. Pavelec, PhD, University of Virginia, USA

Session 2: Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy

Moderators:
Aarti Asnani, MD, Harvard University, USA
Thomas Gillette, PhD, UT Southwestern, USA

3:15-3:35
Inflammation and Adverse Remodeling in Heart Failure
Antonio Abbate, MD, PhD, University of Virginia, USA

3:35-3:55
Molecular Mechanisms in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy
Helen Collins, PhD, University of Louisville, USA

3:55-4:15
Novel Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches in Heart Failure
Saumya Das, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA

4:15-4:30
A Cellular Mechanism Mediating Lipomatous Metaplasia in the Infarcted Heart
Izabela Tuleta, MD, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA

Poster Session and Reception

4:45-5:45
Meet with the BCVS Program Chairs
Farah Sheikh, PhD, University of California San Diego, USA
Jennifer Davis, PhD, University of Washington, USA

Women in Science Breakfast
Ticket Required

Session 3: Cardiac Growth, Hypertrophy and and Remodeling

Moderators: 
Bradley McConnell, PhD, University of Houston, USA
Michaela Patterson, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA

Speakers:

8:00-8:20
Reactivation of Pro-regenerative Macrophage IL-13 Signaling to Promote Cardiac Functional Recovery in Adults
Caitlin O'Meara, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA

8:20-8:40
Secondary Structures that Regulate mRNA Translation Provide Insights for ASO-mediated Modulation of Cardiac Hypertrophy
Peng Yao, PhD, University of Rochester, USA

8:40-9:00
Programming the Heart to a Regenerative State
Mauro Giacca, MD, PhD, King's College of London, UK

9:00-9:15
MYCN is an essential regulator of cardiomyocyte proliferation and metabolic conversion by opposing PI3K-Foxo3 signaling
Riley J. Leonard, PhD, University of Minnesota, USA

Session 4: What's New in Cardiovascular Fibrosis

Moderators:
Onur Kanisicak, PhD, The Ohio State University, USA
Taben Hale, PhD, University of Arizona, USA

Speakers:

9:45-10:05
ECM Regulation in the Pressure Overloaded and Unloaded Heart
Amy Bradshaw, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, USA

10:05-10:25
Transcriptomic Profiling of Fibroblasts in Hypertensive Heart
Alexander Pinto, PhD, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

10:25-10:45
Chromatin Remodeling as a Driver of Fibroblast Activation
Michael Alexanian, PhD, Gladstone Institute, USA

10:45-11:00
NETs Drive Adverse Remodeling by Activating STING-Dependent Autophagy in Cardiac Fibroblasts
Li He, MD, PhD, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Lunch on Your Own
or
Lunch with Legends (ticketed event)

Session 6: Cardiovascular Development, Gene Regulation and Congenital Heart Disease

Moderators:
Deqiang Li, MD, PhD, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, USA
Nicole Dubois, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Speakers:

1:30-1:50
Cell-extracellular Matrix Interactions in Cardiovascular Development and Disease
Sophie Astrof, PhD, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, USA

1:50-2:10
Unraveling the Etiology of Congenital Heart Defects: Insights from Human Genetics and Mouse Models
Vidu Garg, MD, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital, USA

2:10-2:30
Molecular Mechanism of Congenital Valve Disease
Joy Lincoln, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA

2:30-2:45
Charting Postnatal Heart Development Using In Vivo Single-Cell Functional Genomics
Haofei Wang, PhD, UNC at Chapel Hill, USA

Session 7 - Cardiac Repair, Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Moderators:
Kareen Coulombe, PhD, Brown University, USA
Nathan Sniadecki, PhD, University of Washington, USA

Speakers:

3:15-3:35
Regenerating the Human Heart
Wolfram Zimmerman, MD, PhD, University of Goettingen, Germany

3:35-3:55 
Biomaterials for Cardiac Repair
Ke Cheng, PhD, Columbia University, USA

3:55-4:15 
Organ-on-a-chip models of cardiovascular diseases
Milica Radisic, PhD, University of Toronto, Canada

4:15-4:30
Hypoimmunogenic hPSC-derived cardiac organoids evade host immune rejection and promote cardiac functional recovery
Ying Mei, PhD, Clemson University, USA

Session 8: Emerging Cardiovascular Translational Technologies

Moderators:
James Chong, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia
Susmita Sahoo, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA

Speakers:

8:00-8:20 am
Cellular and Engineered Organoids for Cardiovascular Models
Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, Stanford University, USA

8:20-8:40 am
Transplantation of a genetically modified porcine heart into a live human
Muhammad Mohiuddin, MD, University of Maryland, USA

8:40-9:00 am
Gene editing to prevent ventricular arrhythmias associated with cardiomyocyte cell therapy
Chuck E. Murry, MD, PhD, University of Southern California, USA

9:00-9:15 am
Preclinical characterization of CK-4021586, a new class of cardiac myosin inhibitors, for the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
Meredith A. Redd, PhD, Cytokinetics, USA

Session 9 – Unlocking New Mechanisms in Cardiac Arrhythmia

Moderators:
Livia Hool, PhD, University of Western Australia, Australia
Hector Valdivia, PhD, University of Wisconsin, USA

9:45-10:05 am
Stressing over Kinases in Arrhythmias
Xun Ai, MD, The Ohio State University, USA

10:05-10:25 am
Arrhythmogenic Substrate in Myocarditis
James Smyth, PhD, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech, USA

10:25-10:45
IP3Receptor in Arrhythmias and Heart Failure
SR Wayne Chen, PhD, University of Calgary, Canada

10:45-11:00 am
Differentiating Local from Global Repolarization Changes During Intra-Cardiac Mapping: The Inception of a Novel Mapping Technology
Tasnia Subha, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

Session 10: Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award

Moderators:
Stacey Rentschler, MD, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Huabo Su, PhD, Augusta University, USA

11:00-11:15 am
Activin Type IIA Receptor Inhibition Decreases Atrial Fibrillation Inducibility In Mice Via a Smurf1-Connexin43 Mechanism
Claire Castro, PhD, Harvard University, USA

11:15-11:30 am
MICU proteins facilitate Ca2+-dependent mitochondrial metabolon formation to regulate cellular energetics - independent of MCU
Henry Cohen, PhD, Temple University, USA

11:30-11:45 am
The microtubule network is required for YAP-induced sarcomere breakdown in adult cardiomyocytes
Shijie Liu, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA

11:45 am -12:00 pm
Combined OX40-PD-1 immunotherapy potentiates cardiac inflammation and promotes myocardial vulnerability
Pan Ma, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Session 11- Cardio-Immunology: Inflammation, Immunity, and the Heart

Moderators:
Daniela Čiháková, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Pilar Alcaide, PhD, MS, Tufts University, USA

1:30-1:50 pm
Leveraging Macrophage Biology to Immune-engineer the Heart
Slava Epelman, MD, PhD, University of Toronto, Canada

1:50-2:10 pm
Immune-Fibroblast Cross-talk in Heart Disease
Nadia Rosenthal, PhD, The Jackson Laboratory, USA

2:10-2:30 pm
New Therapeutic Approaches to Alleviate Inflammation and Promote Cardiac Repair
Sumanth Prabhu, MD, Washington University School of Medicine, USA

2:30-2:45 pm
Preferential Skewing of Cardiac iNKT1-mediated Response by α-GalCer/CD1d Treatment Without Exacerbating Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity
Sarojini Singh, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

Session 12 – The Age of Metabolism

Moderators:
Andrew Gibb, PhD, University of Louisville, USA
Rong Tian, MD, PhD, University of Washington, USA

3:15-3:35 pm
Glutamine-serine Metabolism Control Pathologic Vascular Stiffness
Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA

3:35-3:55 pm
How Mitochondrial Metabolite Flux is Adjusted to Proliferative Demand and Cell Function
Xi Fang, PhD, University of California San Diego, USA

3:55-4:15 pm
How do SGLT2 Inhibitors Reduce Cardiovascular Events and Heart Failure?
Zolt Arany, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, USA

4:15-4:30 pm
Foxm1-Mediated Mitochondrial Function in Cardiomyocytes Protects Cardiac Ischemic Injury Through Suppressing Mkrn1-Dependent LKB1 Ubiquitination
Shuai Song, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China

Session 13 – Cardiac Cellular Signaling: Mechanisms and Cross talk

Moderators:
Loren Wold, PhD, The Ohio State University, USA
Priscilla Sato, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

Speakers:
8:00-8:20 am
Phosphatase influence on Cardiac Remodeling and Dysfunction
Kate Weeks, PhD, University of Melbourne, Australia

8:20-8:40 am
Circadian Clock and Cardiovascular Disease
Lilei Zhang, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, USA

8:40-9:00 am
Directing Cardiac Growth through Local Control of Translation
Benjamin Prosser, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, USA

9:00-9:15 am
Thioredoxin1 is a critical factor for the stability and activity of SERCA2a in the heart
Allen S. Titus, PhD, Rutgers NJMS, USA

Session 14 – Pathophysiologic and Systemic Axes Beyond the Heart

Moderators:
Lorrie Kirshenbaum, PhD, University of Manitoba, Canada
Weijia Luo, PhD, Texas A&M University, USA

Speakers:
9:45-10:05 am
Renal Denervation to Treat Heart Failure
Thomas Sharp, PhD, University of South Florida, USA

10:05-10:25 am
Liver-heart Crosstalk Mediated by Coagulation Factor XI Protects Against Heart Failure
Aldons J. Lusis, PhD, University of California Los Angeles, USA

10:25-10:45 am
Brain-Heart Cross talk in Alzheimer’s Disease
Federica del Monte, MD, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, USA

10:45-11:00 am
Splenic Follicular B Cells Promote Adverse Cardiac Remodeling in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy via MHC-II-Dependent Antigen Presentation
Oby V. Ebenebe, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, USA