Our group focuses on 2 main areas of interest: (1) the causes, mechanisms, and treatment of different types of myocardial injury; and (2) precision medicine strategies for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) based on the identification of early silent disease.

Myocardial injury. We investigate the molecular origins of myocardial injuries ranging from ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury to heart failure associated with cancer–therapy-induced cardiotoxicity. This work is coupled to in-depth investigation of the anatomical and physiological manifestations of these conditions, and our group thus includes experts in molecular biology, clinical cardiology, and cardiovascular imaging. Our evaluation of experimental animal models makes use of advanced imaging techniques that can also be applied to humans, strengthening the translational potential of our research. To exploit this potential, we work on multidisciplinary programs in close collaboration with hospitals and clinical researchers.

A key area of interest is how cardiac metabolism is altered in different disease contexts. We are pioneering the use of state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging to better characterize the anatomy, function, tissue composition, and energetic status of the myocardium in vivo after myocardial infarction and in heart failure of varying etiology. For this research we combine work in large-animal models with clinical studies.

Our work on I/R injury centers on the potential of remote ischemic conditioning to mitigate the tissue damage caused when the blood supply is restored to the myocardium after a period of ischemia. The design and development of clinical trials is paralleled by research into the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the protection observed in humans. This endeavor combines the use of in vitro studies and genetically modified small-animal models.

More recently we opened a new line of research into anthracycline-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC) in cancer survivors. With funding from the European Commission (ERC, H2020 Health, and ERA4HEALTH demographic change and wellbeing programs), we are studying the mechanisms of AIC, developing novel early diagnostic markers, and testing new therapies to prevent AIC in experimental models and clinical trials.

We are also interested in nutritional approaches targeting cardiac metabolic substrate utilization as a new way to treat heart failure.

Our group leads international randomized clinical trials in the areas of myocardial infarction and AIC, including the REBOOT, RESILIENCE, MAIDEN and HF4HF studies.

ASCVD prevention. Our group is pioneering precision medicine approaches to ASCVD prevention. We participate in the PESA-H project and recently started the multinational REACT initiative. Within these large cohort studies, we screen for signs of early silent atherosclerosis and use the findings to design personalized preventive interventions for use from early in life

This work involves the development of novel imaging algorithms—mainly for vascular ultrasound—as precision medicine tools, and we are increasingly using artificial intelligence tools that increase the accuracy of our precision medicine algorithms.