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
Modulation of Cardiac Myosin Contraction by Small Molecules
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
Extracellular Vesicle Transcriptomics: A Gateway to Biomarker and Target Discovery
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: Chair
Jennifer Davis, PhD, University of Washington, USA: Chair-Elect

Women in Science Breakfast
(Ticket Required)

Arianne Caudal, PhD, Stanford University, USA
Helen Collins, PhD, FAHA, University of Louisville, USA
Jennifer Davis, PhD, University of Washington, USA; Program Chair-Elect
Livia Hool, PhD, FAHA, University of Western Australia, Australia
Rebecca Levit, MD, Emory University, USA

Activity Facilitators:
Francesca Vacante, PhD, Stanford University, USA
Zehra Yildirim, PhD, Stanford University

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 Regulates Neonatal Cardiomyocyte Metabolism
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
Glutamine Metabolism in Cardiac Pathological Remodeling and the Fibrotic Response
Andrew Gibb, PhD, University of Louisville, USA

10:45-11:00
Multiscale Platform Identifies Novel Therapeutic Targets for Fibrosis
Hao Zhang, MD, Stanford University, USA

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

Amy Bradshaw, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, USA
Benoit Bruneau, PhD, FAHA, Gladstone Institute, USA
Saumya Das, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
Sharlene Day, MD, FAHA, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Vidu Garg, MD, PhD, FAHA, Nationwide Children's Hospital, USA
Mauro Giacca, MD, PhD, King's College of London, UK
Livia Hool, PhD, FAHA, University of Western Australia, Australia
David Kass, MD, FAHA, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Maria Kontaridis, PhD, FAHA, Masonic Medical Research Institute, USA; BCVS Council Chair
Joy Lincoln, PhD, FAHA, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA
Bradley McConnell, PhD, FAHA, University of Houston, USA
Sumanth Prabhu, MD, FAHA, Washington U in St. Louis, USA
Stefan Raunser, PhD, Max Planck Institute, Germany
Nadia Rosenthal, PhD, The Jackson Laboratory, USA
Farah Sheikh, PhD, FAHA, University of California San Diego, USA
Michelle Tallquist, PhD, University of Hawaii, USA
Jil Tardiff, MD, PhD, FAHA, University of Arizona, USA
Rong Tian MD, PhD, FAHA, University of Washington, USA
Loren Wold, PhD, FAHA, The Ohio State University, USA
Joseph C. Wu , MD, PhD, FAHA, Stanford University, USA; AHA Past President
Wolfram Zimmermann, MD, PhD, FAHA, University Medical Center Goettingen, Germany

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
Heart Field-specific Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: Platforms for Disease Modeling
Timothy Kamp, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 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

Break/Exhibits

Meet & Greet with AHA Journal Editors from Circ Research, Circ GPM and JAHA
AHA Journal Booth

Session 7 - Cardiac Repair, Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Moderators:
Kareen Coulombe, PhD, Brown University, USA
Nenad Bursac, PhD, Duke University, USA

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

3:35-3:55 
Minimally Invasive and None-Invasive Delivery of Secretome Therapeutics to the Heart
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

8:00-8:20 am
Stem Cells, Genomics, and AI for Drug Discovery
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
Xander Wehrens, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, 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 Subversion of Intercellular Junctions During Acute Viral Cardiac Infection
James Smyth, PhD, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech, USA

10:25-10:45
Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Calcium-dependent Arrhythmias
Hector Valdiva, PhD, University of Wisconsin, USA

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:
Huabo Su, PhD, Augusta University, USA
Kika Sucharov, PhD, University of Colorado, 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, Massachusetts General Hospital, 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:
Luigi Adamo, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA
Yonggang Ma, PhD, University of South Florida, USA

Speakers:
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
The Cardiosplenic Axis Drives Cardiac Repair after MI
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 Controls Pathologic Vascular Stiffness
Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA

3:35-3:55 pm
Recent Findings and Unresolved Questions in Understanding Mitochondrial ISR
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:
Weijia Luo, PhD, Texas A&M University, USA
Xuejun "XJ" Wang, MD, PhD, USD Sanford School of Medicine, 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
Regulation of Fat-Heart Crosstalk by an HDAC
Timothy McKinsey, PhD, University of Colorado, 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