Meet the First Authors

Dr Lingli Wang earned her MD from the Fourth Army Medical University in Xi’an, China, and completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University, before joining the Rabinovitch lab, where she has been a Research Scientist for the past 14 years. In addition to managing the lab and genotyping and phenotyping the extensive transgenic mouse colonies, Dr. Wang has pursued her own research project, investigating how a genetic mutation subverts smooth muscle cell function in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Lingli encourages lab members by reassuring them that, “continuous effort will lead to success”. Outside the lab, she enjoys cooking for her family and jogging.

Dr Murilo Delgobo is a postdoctoral researcher at the Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg, Germany. In 2018, he completed his PhD at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil (Supervisor: Dr. Andre Bafica), studying how host-pathogen interactions shape hematopoiesis. In 2018, he joined Dr. Gustavo Ramos’ Immunocardiology lab, where his research shifted into investigating how T cells differentiate in the infarcted myocardium and how their activity affects tissue repair. His long-term goals are to find new ways to attenuate myocardial diseases by targeting immunological mechanisms and to establish his own cardioimmunology research group. Outside the lab, he enjoys cycling, traveling, and spending time with his family.

Dr. Yuxi Sun is a resident in the Department of Cardiovascular Disease at Xinhua Hospital, affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. He earned his MD/PhD from Tongji University in Internal Medicine (Cardiology). During his doctoral training, he joined Dr. Rui Yue’s lab, where he explored the molecular mechanisms by which cardiac fibroblasts enhance recovery of myocardial infarction. Currently, Dr. Sun continues to focus on cardiac remodeling and heart failure. He hopes to decipher disease-related cellular heterogeneity of cardiac fibroblasts and identify more molecular targets to develop novel and effective drugs with translational potentials.

Mengqiu Ma is an MD/PhD candidate at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. Mengqiu earned her BS in Medicine and is currently a visiting PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Germany. Hoping to find new therapies for patients suffering from heart failure, her focus includes cardiomyocyte regeneration and stem cell therapy. After four years of fruitful research experience under the supervision of Dr. Rui Yue, Mengqiu developed a high sense of responsibility towards unraveling scientific mysteries. Mengqiu would like to become a professor with an independent research group in the future.

Dr Ying Zhang is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the First Hospital of China Medical University (CMU). She earned a PhD in cell biology from CMU in 2018. Recently, she has acquired multiple Natural Science Foundations of China awards, and as the first or corresponding author published 16 manuscripts including in Circulation Research and Science Advances. Dr. Zhang’s long-term focus on PTM in cardiovascular-related diseases provides theoretical bases for targeted therapy. Her enthusiasm and passion for truth in scientific research has helped her overcome many difficulties and are the factors she attributes to her success.

Dr Naijin Zhang is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the first hospital of China Medical University (CMU). He earned his PhD from CMU in 2018. Dr. Zhang is a recipient of the National Postdoctoral Innovation Talent Support Program and his research focuses on protein post-translational modifications in cardiovascular diseases for providing theoretical basis and practical value. In recent years, Dr. Zhang, has published 31 manuscripts in Circulation Research, Cell Death Differ, and Redox Biology, among others.

Dr Josè Manuel Pioner is a physiologist at the University of Florence working on the mechanisms underlying genetic myopathies and cardiomyopathies. He has acquired skills on human cardiac muscle/cell and myofibril mechanical measurements, which he applies to hiPSC–cardiomyocytes. As a postdoctoral fellow he contributed to the investigation of the (HCM)-MYBPC3:c772G>A variant that started about 10 years ago in the Florence laboratories. In his free time, he often finds new hobbies but playing football and watching his team are still one of his favorites. He loves food tasting and cooking. He believes that creativity and teamwork are the best ingredients for growing his research.

Yehuda Wexler earned a dual BS in biomedical engineering and medical science from the Technion Israel Institute of Science in 2019. Currently, he is part of the MD-PhD program at the Technion’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine under the supervision of Dr Lior Gepstein. His research is focused on genetic engineering of human pluripotent stem cells and on the development of novel genetic strategies for cardiologic research and therapies. Outside the lab, Yehuda enjoys reading, playing piano, and spending quality time with friends, family, and his supportive wife.

Dr. Rio Juni is a postdoctoral fellow in the Physiology Department, Amsterdam UMC. After completing his medical training at the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, he moved to the Netherlands to pursue his interest in cardiovascular research. He completed his research master at CARIM School for Cardiovascular Disease and was awarded a PhD for his work on microRNAs as regulators of cardiac vascular remodeling. Rio’s research interest is endothelial-cardiomyocyte crosstalk in heart pathologies, in particular Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF). As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Reinier Boon’s lab, Rio’s investigating endothelial-related mechanism of HFpEF with focus on lncRNAs.