Program
Sunday, Feb 8
11 – 11:30 a.m.
Arrive at UA (Health Sciences Innovation Building)
Lunch service provided by the Arizona Catering Co.
11:35 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.
Opening Keynote:
Stem cells, genomics, and AI for drug discovery
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD
Director, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology
Stanford University School of Medicine
Past president, American Heart Association (2023-2024)
12:35 – 12:45 p.m.
Group Photo
12:45 - 2 p.m.
Tours of MRB and Sarver Heart Center Labs
2:10 – 2:40 p.m.
Commute to El Conquistador, Hilton
Session I
Vascular Biology, Cardiometabolic Health, and Outcomes-Driven Cardiovascular Care
Location: El Conquistador Hilton, Presidio Room
Moderators:
Hesham A. Sadek, MD, PhD
Director, Sarver Heart Center
Professor, Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine
Chief, Division of Cardiology
Allan C. Hudson & Helen Lovaas – Endowed Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Luke I. Szweda, PhD
Professor, Medicine and Chemistry and Biochemistry
Member, Sarver Heart Center
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
3:05 - 3:25 p.m.
Endothelial–myocardial crosstalk in cardiovascular injury
Nazish Sayed, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery (Division of Vascular Surgery)
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
3:25 - 3:45 p.m.
Artificial intelligence in medicine, cardiology and heart failure 2026: Utility, benefits and risks
Marvin J. Slepian, MD, JD
Regents Professor, Medicine, Medical Imaging, Engineering, Materials Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Law
Director, Arizona Center for Accelerated Biomedical Innovation (ACABI)
Member, Sarver Heart Center
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
3:45 - 4:05 p.m.
Sleep and cardiovascular health
Michael Grandner, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Psychology, and Medicine
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
4:05 - 4:25 p.m.
Economic and quality of life outcomes after CABG or PCI: The FAME 3 trial
Mark Hlatky, MD
Professor, Health Policy and Medicine
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
4:25 - 4:40 p.m.
Snack and Coffee Break
Session II
Advanced Cardiovascular Imaging, Electrophysiology, and Precision Arrhythmia Management
Moderators:
Shirin Doroudgar, PhD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Translational Cardiovascular Research Center
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix
Sankar Natesan, PhD
AHA International Visiting Professorship, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Professor, Genetic Engineering,
Madurai Kamaraj University, School of Biotechnology (India)
4:40 - 5 p.m.
Imaging, electrophysiology, & arrythmia-focused precision card
José Antonio Enríquez Domínguez, PhD
Principal Investigator, Functional Genetics of the Oxidative Phosphorylation System (GENOXPHOS)
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC)
5 - 5:20 p.m.
Noninvasive plaque imaging by CT
Koen Nieman, MD
Professor, Medicine and Radiology
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
5:20 - 5:40 p.m.
Left atrial cardiomyopathy & atrial fibrillation
Julia Indik, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
Flinn Foundation and American Heart Association Endowed Chair in Electrophysiology
Member, Sarver Heart Center
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
5:40 - 6 p.m.
Medical devices, electrophysiology, ventricular arrhythmias & HF bridges AF
Roderick Tung, MD
Professor, Internal Medicine
Chief, Division of Cardiology
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Director, Cardiovascular Center, Banner – UMC Phoenix
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Poster Session I - Turquoise Room 2
Monday, Feb 9
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Hiking at Catalina State Park, led by Henk Granzier, PhD (COM-T)
Groups meet in the lobby, carpool to Catalina State Park
1:40 – 2 p.m.
Session Opening: Coffee & Light Refreshments
Location: El Conquistador Hilton, Presidio Room
Session III
Gene Regulation, Metabolism, and Iron Biology in Cardiovascular Development and Disease
MODERATORS:
Casey E. Romanoski, PhD
Associate Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Clinical Translational Sciences, and Genetics - GIDP
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Iván Menéndez-Montes, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
2 - 2:20 p.m.
Transcriptional regulation of cardiac development: Lessons from stem cells
Sean M. Wu, MD, PhD
Professor, Medicine
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
2:20 - 2:40 p.m.
Epigenomics, RNA regulation, metabolism in hypertension & CKD
Mingyu Liang, MB, PhD
Cosden Professor & Chair, Physiology
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
2:40 – 3 p.m.
Role of iron in cardiovascular disease
Hossein Ardehali, MD, PhD
Associate Dean, COM-T Translational Research and Training
Professor of Medicine, Clinical Translational Science, and Immunobiology
Irving J. Levinson Professor of Cardiology
Associate Director, Sarver Heart Center
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Session IV
Integrative Cardiovascular Pathophysiology: From Genetics to Clinical Phenotypes
MODERATORS:
Samantha Harris, PhD
Professor, Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Physiological Science - GIDP
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Taejeong Song, PhD
Assistant Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
3 - 3:20 p.m.
From pressure to phenotype: Rethinking the diagnosis of PH in HFpEF
Franz Rischard, DO
Professor, Medicine
Associate Dean, Clinical Research
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
3:20 - 3:40 p.m.
Scalable base editing in iPSCs to model RBM20 variant effects
Victoria Parikh, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Stanford Center for Inherited Cardiovascular Disease
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
3:40 - 4 p.m.
Electrophysiology + genetics + molecular biology
Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, MD
Professor and Chair, Basic Medical Sciences
Professor, Internal Medicine and Clinical Translational Sciences
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
4 - 4:20 p.m.
Advances and innovation in arrhythmias and cardiovascular diseases
Paul J. Wang, MD
John R. and Ai Giak L. Singleton Director, Stanford Cardiac Arrhythmia Service
Professor of Medicine
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
4:20 - 4:40 p.m.
The interplay between the environment, the immune system and atherosclerosis
Patricia Nguyen, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
4:40 – 5 p.m.
Brief Transition Break
Session V
Cellular Stress Responses, Heart Failure Biology, and Next-Generation Therapeutics
MODERATORS:
James K. Liao, MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine
The Robert S. and Irene Flinn Endowed Chair in Medicine
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, MD
Professor and Chair, Basic Medical Sciences
Professor, Internal Medicine and Clinical Translational Sciences
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
5 - 5:20 p.m.
Oxidative stress, proteomics, cardioprotection, Nrf2 pathways
Casey E. Romanoski, PhD
Associate Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Clinical Translational Sciences, and Genetics - GIDP
University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
5:20 - 5:40 p.m.
Proteostasis, stress signaling, cell biology of cardiac injury
Christopher Glembotski, PhD
Professor, Internal Medicine
Director, Translational Cardiovascular Research Center
Vice Dean for Research
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix
5:40 - 6 p.m.
Advanced HF, transplant, QoL, digital health, therapeutics & equity
Eldrin F. Lewis, MD, MPH
Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine
Chief, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Member, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute
Stanford University School of Medicine
6 - 6:20 p.m.
Much ado about mononucleated myocytes
Shah Rukh Ali, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
6:30 - 7:20 p.m.
Poster Session II - Turquoise Room 2
7:20 - 7:30 p.m.
Poster Award Presentations
Posters
Poster sessions will be held on both Sunday and Monday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Synoviolin (Syvn1) actively restrains pathological cardiac hypertrophy by suppressing protein synthesis via the PERK pathway
Marjan Aghajani, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 1
Erythroid-specific HK1 (RBC-HK1) in red blood cell development and metabolism
Md Abdur Rahman Apu, MS
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 2
OPCAB vs. ONCAB hemodialysis
Nikhil Johnson
Medical Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 3
Regulation of cardiokine secretion and cardiac function by peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM)
Marjan Esfahani, MS
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 4
Titin’s P-zone domains A164-167 are essential for thick filament structural arrangement
Catherine Hoover Browne
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 5
Daily rhythms in mitochondrial insulin sensitivity govern cardiac glucose utilization.
Alyss Humphrey
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 6
Investigating molecular mechanisms of ABCB8 mediated lysosomal stress
Khushboo Irshad, PhD
Research Scientist, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 7
Nuclear functions of hexokinase 1: Role beyond glycolysis
Priya Kunhiraman, MS
Research Scientist, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 8
Aurora B kinase bypasses mitosis and directly induces cytokinesis in multinucleated cardiomyocytes
Nicholas Lam, PhD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 9
More than just hair growth: A case report on minoxidil induced pleuro-pericardial effusion.
Vivek Mahadevaiah, MD
Postdoctoral Researcher, Tucson Medical Center
Poster Number: 10
Pulsatile myofilament activity in Myotrem myopathy associated with myogenic tremor
Jennifer Mariano
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 11
AXL governs axolotl cardiac regeneration and drives mammalian cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation
Jorge Peña Peña
Graduate Student, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid, Spain
Poster Number: 12
Investigating the epigenetic mechanisms of therapeutic cardiac regeneration following tissue-engineered biologic treatment
Allison Tulino
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 13
Titin’s N2A-element functions as a stress response element to stabilize marp proteins in muscle
Robbert Van der Pijl, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 14
Importance of N2BA titin in maintaining cardiac homeostasis and its role in dilated cardiomyopathy
Robbert van der Pijl, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 15
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) induce hypertension via Arginase1-mediated endothelial dysfunction
Jason O. Wu, PhD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 16
Noncanonical role of ALAS1 as a heme-independent guardian for mitochondria function
Ke Cai, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 17
Simultaneous measurements of intracardiac pressure and intracellular calcium concentration in vivo in mouse hearts shed light on pressure–calcium dynamics
Joshua Hale
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 18
Neurostimulator pacing system for induction of persistent atrial fibrillation in swine
Fox Bravo
Medical Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 19
Yucatan mini swine model of persistent atrial fibrillation
Deirdre O'Donnell
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 20
Creating a pacing platform for a reproducible large-animal model of persistent atrial fibrillation
Jesse Riemenschneider
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Engineering
Poster Number: 21
The association of left atrial voltage with clinical factors according to atrial region of interest in patients with atrial fibrillation
Kamaldeep Singh, MD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 22
Protective effect of overweight status in aortic valve surgery: Revisiting the obesity paradox
Harrison Feerst
Medical Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 23
Outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection repair: Comparing temperature and cerebral perfusion strategies
Kiana Frederique
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 24
Pathomechanisms of monoallelic variants in TTN
Jochen Gohlke
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 25
Impact of intraoperative oxygen delivery on postoperative acute kidney injury after CABG surgery
Rintaro Kinjo, MD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 26
Prevalence, presentation, characteristics and 4-year major adverse cardiovascular outcomes of patients presenting with myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary artery disease compared with myocardial infarction with obstructive coronary artery disease
Kamaldeep Singh, MD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 27
Tissue-specific inflammation, immune response and ventricular remodeling in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Kalyani Ananthamohan, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 28
Neurological and clinical outcomes of ECPELLA vs. ECMO+IABP in cardiogenic shock
Himanshi Banker, MD
Postdoctoral Researcher, Tucson Medical Center
Poster Number: 29
Pulmonary transit time as a noninvasive biomarker of pulmonary hypertension
Fox Bravo
Medical Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 30
Pathophysiological significance of linker and loop motifs of cardiac myosin-binding protein C
Garrett Crosby, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 31
Unbreakable hearts: Human polymorphisms with cardiac regenerative potential
Ahmed Elghamry, MD, and Hamed El-feky
Postdoctoral Researchers, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 32
Effectiveness of multiarterial grafting in low socioeconomic status and minority patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery
Amir Gaber
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 33
Age-adjusted trends in diastolic and systolic heart failure in the United States over recent years based on race and gender, with higher trends in men and African American patients
Hannah Kirsch
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 34
Wild-type troponin T gene therapy for treatment of troponin T K210 deletion
Ivan Menendez-Montes, PhD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 35
Occurrence of procedural-related cardiogenic shock during CTO intervention
Kian Mofidi
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 36
Physiologic predictors of discrepancy between end-expiratory and respiratory-averaged pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in pulmonary hypertension
Tolu Popoola
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 37
Myosin S2 in cardiac contractility and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Stephanie Rzewnicki
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 38
IRE1α protects against cardiac fibrosis via selective degradation of a profibrotic transcriptome
Ernie Sandoval
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix
Poster Number: 39
Right heart–left heart interactions: Linking eccentricity index with pulmonary wedge and right atrial pressures
Sorabh Sharma, MD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 40
Molecular mechanisms of diaphragm dysfunction in HFpEF: Linking compensation, failure and mechanical ventilation
Marloes Van den Berg, MD, PhD
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 41
Precision cardiac immunology: Unlocking integrated disease understanding for biologic therapeutics targeting the immune system in chronic ischemic heart failure
Daniel Benson
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 42
Evaluating the effect of biologic application to skeletal muscle tissues post-VML injury with regard to mechanical properties of the tissue
Colton Buchanan
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 43
Immunomodulatory effects of cell payload patch in a murine model of volumetric muscle loss
Sophia DiPonio
Early Career Investigator, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 44
Biologic therapy promotes in-vitro muscle repair following volumetric muscle loss injury
Eli Lefkowitz
Medical Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 45
Translation of myocardial repair technology to skeletal muscle via non-tissue-specific mechanisms
Joaquin Enrique Lopez Rosales
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Tucson
Poster Number: 46