Dr Justin Van Beusecum is currently a Research Health Scientist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at Medical University of South Carolina. Dr Van Beusecum earned his BS in Biology from Walsh University (mentor, Dr Jackie Novak). He then earned his PhD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine under the mentorship of Dr Edward W. Inscho, where he studied inflammation on regulation of renal autoregulation. Dr Van Beusecum continued his research on inflammation in cardiovascular disease during his postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the laboratory of Dr David G. Harrison. His research is focused on the interplay between innate immune cells, specifically monocytes and dendritic cells and the endothelium. His most recent work described how growth arrest specific-6 (GAS6) and Axl signaling coordinate a pro-inflammatory immune response to promote the development of hypertension and end-organ damage. Dr Van Beusecum’s ongoing research employs approaches from human single cell sequencing to novel genetic mice to human subjects for investigating novel pathways of inflammation in hypertension.

Dr Daniel Gorski is a postdoctoral research scientist in the laboratory of Dr Jens Fischer, in the Institute of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, Düsseldorf, Germany. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, under the supervision of Dr Anna Plaas. His research is centered around understanding how extracellular matrix components influence cell behavior in cardiovascular disease. Currently, he utilizes single-cell approaches to dissect the role of hyaluronan and hyaluronan-binding proteins in cardiac fibroblast phenotype after myocardial infarction. He can be found on Twitter @danieljgorski.

Dr Sherin Saheera studied Biotechnology as an undergraduate and graduate study at the University of Kerala in India. She earned her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Cardiology from the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Kerala, India, where, under the mentorship of Dr Renuka Nair, she investigated cardiac stem cell aging in hypertensive rat models. After completing her PhD, she joined Dr Prasanna Krishnamurthy’s lab at the University of Alabama, where she explored the molecular mechanisms by which stem cell-derived exosomes enhance recovery from myocardial infarction. Currently she is continuing her second postdoctoral training fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, deciphering the role of epigenetics in cardiovascular development. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with her son. She can be found on Twitter @SherinSaheera.

Dr Qing-jun Zhang earned his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at Peking Union Medical College/Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Currently he is a research scientist in the Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology at UT Southwestern. His scientific focus is cardiovascular disease, especially the mechanisms of cardiac remodeling and heart failure. He hopes to identify more molecular targets to develop effective drugs treating cardiac remodeling and heart failure. Previously he showed that histone lysine demethylase KDM3A can be targeted by small molecular inhibitor, JIB-04, in transaortic constriction-induced hypertrophic remodeling. In the study in this issue, he shows CILP1 may be a potential target for post-myocardia infarction cardiac remodeling and fibrosis.

Dr Yu He earned his BS from Medical College of Zhengzhou University, and his MS and PhD from Guangxi Medical University. At present, Yu He works as a laboratory diagnostic at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. Since 2019, he has explored the effect of CILP1 in myocardial fibrosis under the guidance of Dr Zhi-Ping Liu, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He continues to focus on this area and evaluates the translational significance of CILP1 as a serum marker in the diagnosis of human diseases.

Dr Sean Burnap is a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Dr Manuel Mayr. He began his scientific career with a BS in Biomedical Sciences from King’s College London. An interest in cardiovascular biology spurred him to secure a position in the 4-yr MRes/PhD program in Cardiovascular Medicine funded by the British Heart Foundation, also at King’s College London. During his MRes and PhD, he developed a strong interest in the application of mass spectrometry to study lipoproteins, leading to the structural investigation into how high-density lipoproteins regulate PCSK9 activity. Outside of the lab Sean is an avid sourdough baker and road cyclist. He can be found on twitter @SeanBurnap.

Dr Sarah Basehore earned her BS in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2014. She then completed her doctorate in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University in 2019 in the laboratory of Dr Alisa Morss Clyne, where she studied how hemodynamics impact cell metabolism and subsequent protein glycosylation. Sarah is passionate about healthcare innovation and promoting collaborations among physicians, engineers and scientists. She now works at Analytical Biological Services, where she helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies streamline their discovery processes and accelerate their pipelines. She is also passionate about teaching, mentoring and inspiring the next generation of biomedical engineers.

Dr Yupeng Yan earned a BS in Biotechnology from Inner Mongolia University. An interest in cardiovascular diseases brought her to Fuwai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College, where she earned her PhD (mentor, Dr Yibo Wang), and discovered a passion for.cardiovascular genetics. She is currently pursuing postdoctoral research in Dr Wang’s lab, which centers on genetic mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases. She continues research into major cardiovascular problems, and hopes her scientific contributions will help human health. In her leisure time, she enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her family.