Scientific Advisory Board

Professor Jidong Jia, chief physician, professor and doctoral supervisor, is the Director of the Liver Disease Research Center at Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University. He is currently member of the professional committee on Liver Diseases of the Chinese Association of Gastroenterology of CMDA, and a member of the Standing Committee of Chinese Society of Clinical Pharmacy of CMA. He also serves Vice President of the China Foundation of Hepatitis Prevention and Control.
Dr. Jia is engaged in research into the mechanisms and interventions of chronic liver disease, liver fibrosis, and cirrhosis. He has made significant achievements in areas including the effect of HBV on the proliferation and ECM expression of hepatic stellate cells, the non-invasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis, the management of liver cirrhosis complications, and clinical research on new drugs for chronic viral hepatitis. Dr. Jia received the Kudo-Omata Outstanding Award from the Asia-Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) in March 2025.

Professor Lilach O. Lerman, M.D., Ph.D., at Mayo Medical College, directs the Renovascular Disease Research Laboratory, which focuses on developing and applying techniques to study renal and cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology in animal models and humans.
Dr. Lerman focuses on renovascular disease, cardiorenal interactions, and the kidney and myocardial microcirculation. Her team is engaged in short-term and long-term studies to establish mechanisms of renal and cardiac injury and adaptation to cardiovascular risk factors; the metabolic syndrome; obesity; and atherosclerosis, including vascular remodeling, inflammation, oxidative stress and fibrosis.
Dr. Lerman's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health , the American Heart Association, and other organizations.

Dr. Stefano Romeo is Professor of Molecular and Clinical Medicine at the Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy. He is Director of the Lipid Clinic at the Department of Cardiology and Senior Consultant in Endocrinology at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. He is also a Faculty Member in the Unit of Human Nutrition at the Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
Dr. Romeo's research focuses on the role of genetic variants in metabolic disorders such as fatty liver disease (FLD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). His research field ranges from genetic association studies in large cohorts to molecular genetics and characterization of human mutations.

Professor Amir Lerman, M.D., currently serves as Associate Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Mayo Clinic, Consultant in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine, and Medical Director of the Chest Pain and Coronary Physiology Clinic. As the endowed Barbara Lips Professor of Medicine, he also serves as Medical Director of the Mayo-Israeli Startup Company Initiative and on the faculty of the Merage Institute for Medical Innovation.
Dr. Leman's interests include coronary physiology and imaging, regenerative medicine, innovative technologies, and digital health. He has published over 630 manus, book chapters, and reviews. His research is supported by the NIH, AHA, and several foundations.

Dr. Stephane Heymans is Professor of Cardiomyopathies and Head of the Centre for Heart Failure Research, Department of Cardiology, Maastricht University, and Professor of Inflammation and Matrix Biology in Cardiomyopathies at the University of Leuven.
Dr. Heymans's research focuses on genetic and molecular (inflammatory, fibrotic & metabolic) mechanisms in non-ischemic cardiomyopathies, including HFPEF, myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathies. He also chairs European committees and working groups in the field of myocarditis and cardiomyopathies.

Dr. Jan Borén is Professor and Head of the Institute of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and a physician in the Department of Clinical Chemistry at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. He is also a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg and has been awarded numerous honors, including the Göran Gustafsson Prize in Medicine from the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Dr. Eric K. Fernström Foundation Research Award, and the Irvine H. Page Atherosclerosis Research Award. He serves as Vice-President of the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS), and is an Editorial Board Member for Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Section Editor for BBA – Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, and Co-Editor of Atherosclerosis.

Dr. Borén’s main long-term research interest is lipid metabolism, focusing on understanding the mechanisms leading to lipid accumulation in the liver, arterial wall, and heart, and its consequences, with the aim of translating this knowledge into effective treatments. His translational research program involves in vitro and in vivo studies, including pathophysiological investigations, mouse models, and kinetic studies in carefully phenotyped human volunteers.

Professor Faiez Zannad, MD, PhD, Cardiologist and Clinical Pharmacologist, is Emeritus Professor of Therapeutics at Université de Lorraine and Inserm, Nancy, France. As a clinical trialist, he has significantly contributed to establishing trial-based evidence for modern heart failure drug therapies. He has developed expertise in biomarker and proteomic science and has served as Chairman of the French Society of Hypertension and the Working Group on Pharmacology and Drug Therapy of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). He is the Founder of the Global Cardiovascular Clinical Trialists (CVCT) Forum and Workshop, a global think tank dedicated to clinical trial science, with meetings in Paris, Washington DC, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Zannad is the recipient of multiple international awards, including the Highly Cited Researcher Award and the ESC HFA Lifetime Achievement Award.