Founder and President, The Association of Individualized Medicine & Therapies Director of Medical Research, The Heart and Vascular Institute Co-Chairman, Membership Committee, International College of Angiology, USA

Dr. Murray is a life-long Memphian who attended Rhodes College and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate, earning his undergraduate degree in Chemistry. He obtained his medical degree from Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans in 1975.

Dr. Murray completed his residency and internship at the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences (UTCHS) and then served as Chief of Medical Services in the U.S. Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for 2 years. He then returned to Memphis and completed his fellowship training in Cardiology, again at UTCHS. After training, he served as the Co-Director of Nuclear Cardiology and as the Associate Director of Cardiac Laboratories at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Dr. Murray has been in private practice as an interventional cardiologist in the greater Memphis area since 1987.

Dr. Murray is licensed to practice medicine in the state of Tennessee and is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the International College of Angiology, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the American Society of Cardiac Angiography and Intervention, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, and is a member of the American Medical Association. Dr. Murray’s hospital affiliations include St. Francis Hospitals (Park Avenue and Bartlett), Baptist Memorial Hospitals, and Methodist LeBonheur Hospitals.

Associate Professor, Columbia/Cornell. Stamford Hospital, USA

Dr. Schuster started practicing Cardiology at Stamford Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1980. He joined Stamford Health Medical Group in 2012. He specializes in non invasive cardiology with interest in preventative cardiology and longevity. Over the years, Dr. Schuster has received many honors, including “Teacher of the Year” at Stamford Hospital and US, Connecticut and Westchester Best Doctors. He has extensive teaching experience with both the house staff at Stamford Hospital and medical students from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. He helped develop the EMS system and the use of defibrillators throughout the city.

President and Director of Native Cardio Inc., Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of NEMA Research, USA

Joseph V. Pergolizzi, Jr., MD is an internationally recognized thought leader in internal, perioperative and pain medicine, as well as critical and palliative care, pharmacology, drug development and regulatory affairs. An internationally recognized key opinion leader in pain medicine, Dr. Pergolizzi is a top development and regulatory consultant for blockbuster-branded analgesics, such as Nucynta, Cymbalta and Butrans. Dr. Pergolizzi is an experienced C-suite executive who brings an extensive professional network and background in global healthcare to Neumentum. He is the co-founder of NEMA Research, Inc., a specialty CRO, a former subcommittee member of the FDA SUI and SGE VAH Grant Review for Analgesics, and chairman of PAINWEEK and Consultant to National Pain Foundation Board of Directors. Dr. Pergolizzi is the former director of business development and financial affairs for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Clinical Trials Unit. He also formerly served as a part-time adjunct faculty member in the department of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Director of Cardiology, State of the Heart Cardiology, National Director of Cardiology and Preventive Cardiology at LowT Center/HerKare, Dallas, TX, USA

Dr. Osborne obtained his B.S. with honors from Penn State University, his M.D. magna cum laude from Jefferson Medical College, and his Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology from Thomas Jefferson University. After graduation, he continued his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts where he completed his Internship, Residency, and Research Residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease with post-doctoral training in molecular genetics and positional cloning of cardiomyopathies in the Seidman Laboratory in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, Dr. Osborne published many articles on atherosclerosis, vascular biology, and molecular genetics. His clinical training focused on non-invasive techniques and he is the only physician board certified in Cardiology and Internal Medicine, Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiology, Clinical Lipidology, and Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, as well as being a Specialist in Clinical Hypertension. Additionally, he is one of the few Level III Cardiac CT Angiography experts. He has been recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow of the National Lipid Association. His clinical interests include preventive cardiology, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, cholesterol disorders, coagulation disorders, and cardiovascular genetics. He is the founder and director of State of the Heart Cardiology in Dallas, Texas and is currently the National Director of Cardiology, Preventive Cardiology, and Lipidology for the Low T Centers and HerKare.

Professor of Cardiology, Presso University of Naples Federico II Napoli, Italy

Dr. Antonio Rapacciuolo is working on Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences as an Associate Professor, University of Naples Federico II, Naples (Italy). His Expertise and Specialization: Heart Failure, Receptors, Signaling, Myocardial Infarction, Chronic Heart Failure, Signal Transduction, G Proteins, Atherosclerosis, Interventional Cardiology, Pacemakers, Device Therapy, Congenital Heart Disease and Pediatric Cardiology.

Associate Professor of Medicine & Associate Director of Cardiovascular Fellowship Program Baylor College of Medicine, USA

Dr. Mahboob Alam, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine & Associate Director of Cardiovascular Fellowship Program at Baylor College of Medicine. His training includes an internship and residency in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine where he also completed his fellowship in interventional cardiology. Dr. Alam is board certified in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular disease and specializes in interventional cardiology, ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, percutaneous coronary and peripheral intervention, acute myocardial infarction, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, and valvular heart disease. His Research Interests include: Acute coronary syndrome, High risk coronary interventions including left main stenting, Peripheral arterial disease, Valvular Heart Disease.

Clinical Professor of Medicine/Cardiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine

He serves as Clinical Professor of Cardiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at Oakland University-William Beaumont Medical School. He was designated a Health Hero Awardee by Crain's Detroit Business in 2016. He has published 5 books, over 100 peer reviewed scientific papers, and hundreds of health articles. He is seen regularly on Fox 2 News, The Doctors show and Dr. Phil as well as a national public TV show special on heart health (Your Whole Heart Solution). He has led the annual walks for the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes and serves on the board of Kids Kicking Cancer. Dr. Kahn is excited to assist Oakland University School of Health Sciences further advance as a regional and national leader in educating students and the public in health and lifestyle to prevent the rise in chronic diseases afflicting so many young and old alike.

Interventional Cardiologist, Mayo Clinic Health System - Eau Claire Clinic and University Of Alabama Hospital, USA

Dr. Mohammad Sarraf, MD, is an Interventional Cardiology specialist in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He attended and graduated from medical school in 1998, having over 23 years of diverse experience, especially in Interventional Cardiology. He is affiliated with many hospitals including Mayo Clinic Health System Eau Claire Hospital, University Of Alabama Hospital. Dr. Mohammad Sarraf also cooperates with other doctors and physicians in medical groups including Mayo Clinic Health System - Eau Claire Clinic, Inc.

Instructor, Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Medicine, USA

After completion of his postgraduation at National Centre for Cell Science, University of Pune, India investigating the signaling pathway involved in response to chemotherapy in xenografts models, he started a postdoctoral position at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School undertaking research to understand the molecular pathways that contribute to acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). AKI affects over one million hospitalized patients each year in the USA and is correlated with significant increases in mortality, even when patients do not progress to the stage of renal dialysis.

Kidney fibrosis is the central pathways leading to chronic kidney diseases. His research has been concerned with the role of fibrinogen in the induction and progression of kidney injury, with particular interest in the role of fibrinogen in an ischemia reperfusion kidney injury model where he have shown that genetic and pharmacologic reduction in fibrinogen levels protects mice from acute kidney injury and kidney fibrosis.

He have delineated the molecular pathways involved in regulation of kidney injury molecule-1, a sensitive biomarker for acute kidney injury. Further, using RNA sequencing approach, I found a novel target as SMOC2 is increased during kidney fibrosis and inhibition of SMOC2 by genetic and pharmacologic approaches protects mice from kidney fibrosis. Additionally,theye found that SMOC2 serves as biomarker for kidney fibrosis. He wants to educate new generation scientists by teaching them basic/translations science on the bench and in the classroom. Currently, using high throughput screening using high content imaging, he is investigating the small molecule inhibitors of kidney fibrosis. In addition, he is studying the role of STAT3 in AKI to CKD progression and its therapeutic targets and strategies for the treatment or prevention of AKI or CKD using proteomic approach. He found that genetic depletion of STAT3 protects mice from kidney fibrosis in two mechanistically distinct mouse models. Further, using CRISPR mediated gene activation and mutations for gain of function and loss of function, he found that STAT3 directly regulates profibrogenic cellular response. He is aiming to contribute effective, meaningful research to advance our understanding of mechanism of acute and chronic kidney diseases, and to improve clinical outcomes for patients with kidney disease.

Chair-Scientific Session Innovator MD, Co-Founder, Women in Cardiology Group SF Bay Area, Univ of California San Francisco, USA

Dr. Anushree Agarwal is a cardiologist who specializes in noninvasive cardiology and treats adult patients with congenital heart disease, including pregnant women. She sometimes collaborates with her colleagues in pediatric cardiology to help young patients transition from pediatric to adult care.

In her work with patients, Agarwal's interests include using three-dimensional echocardiography – or ultrasound – to diagnose and manage heart disease, as well as to guide procedures that treat congenital heart conditions.

Agarwal's research interests include echocardiography, pregnancy and heart disease, and adult congenital heart disease. She also studies how to reduce deaths from heart disease and incidence of the disease in certain populations, as well as how to help patients with heart disease improve their quality of life. Recently she has been using new methods for analyzing huge or complex stores of data to better understand the health care needs of heart disease patients, especially those born with heart defects.