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Jodi B. Black, PhD, MMSc is the Deputy Director, Division of Extramural Research Activities (DERA) for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the NIH. She has over 20 years of scientific research and research administration experience with a background in both basic and clinical science. As Deputy Director for DERA at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), she provides scientific and management leadership and oversight of the Institute’s $2.8 billion research portfolio, encompassing basic, clinical, and population-based research and training. The NHLBI is the locus of cardiovascular research for the NIH.

In addition, Dr. Black serves as the Acting Director of the NHLBI Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination, and is on the Program Committee for the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), promoting innovation, quality and ethical standards for global biobanking.

From 2005 to 2009 Dr. Black was Vice President of Research Administration at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a non-profit research institute developing better diagnostics and treatments based on the genetic components of diseases. Prior to TGen, Dr. Black was International Program Officer and Director, AIDS Malignancy Program Office at the National Cancer Institute of the NIH. She received her PhD in Pathology  from Emory University.

Colleen Brophy, MD is currently Professor of Surgery (with tenure) and Medicine (Cardiology) at Vanderbilt University and is a staff surgeon for the Tennessee Valley Health Care System (VA).  She has been continuously funded by the NIH and the VAMC for over 15 years, has over 90 publications in a broad range of peer reviewed journals, two issued patents, and has received numerous academic awards.  Dr. Brophy’s research is in the field of the mechanisms of vascular smooth muscle relaxation. Dr. Brophy has had many firsts as a woman physician including, Professor of Surgery at Vanderbilt, Chair of the Surgical Research Committee for the American College of Surgeons, and Chair of the Bioengineering Technology and Surgical Sciences (BTSS) study section for the NIH. She served as a Commissioner for the State of Arizona (Arizona Biomedical Research Commission).  She is a member of the faculty of the Institute for Women’s Leadership and has facilitated numerous leadership seminars.

Alexander Clowes, MD is Professor of Surgery and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery at the University of Washington. He also holds the V. Paul Gavora/Helen and John Schilling Endowed Chair in Vasular Surgery. He was chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery from 1995 to 2007. Dr. Clowes earned his medical degree from Harvard University, and did his residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland. He also completed a research fellowship at Harvard and a clinical fellowship in vascular surgery at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He is board-certified in surgery and general vascular surgery and specializes in peripheral vascular surgery and the mechanisms of stenosis and restenosis after vascular reconstruction.

Michael S. Conte, MD is the Chief Medical Officer of Vascular Cures, Professor and Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at UCSF and Co-Director of the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center. Previously, he was the Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of Vascular Surgery Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. He was also Co-Director of the Clinical Trials Group at the Center for Surgery and Public Health, a joint initiative of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous book chapters and reviews. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery and has served on the scientific advisory board of several biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies. He served as an Associate Editor for Circulation, and is currently on the editorial boards of the Journal of Vascular Surgery, Vascular Medicine, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, and Vascular.

John Kane, Ph.D. is the Director of the Adult Lipid Clinic at University of California at San Francisco. He earned his medical degree at the University of Oregon School of Medicine, then completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a fellowship in endocrinology at UCSF. His research in lipoprotein metabolism, the management of disorders of lipoproteins, and the genetic bases of heart disease and stroke is known worldwide through his publications in refereed journals and book chapters. Dr. Kane is Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and is an Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF. He is a fellow of the Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. Dr. Kane is a recent recipient of an Outstanding Achievement Award in the Genetics of Lipoprotein Metabolism and Atherosclerosis from the International Atherosclerosis Society. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Clinical Lipidology.

Larry W. Kraiss, MD is Professor and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at the University of Utah. He received a his Bacholor's degree in chemistry from Vanguard University of Southern California, then attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Kraiss' general and vascular surgical training was at the University of Washington in Seattle where he also spent three years in the vascular biology research laboratory of Dr. Alexander Clowes. He joined the faculty at the University of Utah in 1995 where he established an NIH-funded research laboratory studying translational control in endothelial cells and was named Vascular Surgery Division Chief in 2003. He is also Director of the vascular Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Utah. Dr Kraiss has twice received teaching awards from the University of Utah general surgery residents. In 1997 he received the prestigious Wylie Scholar in Academic Vascular Surgery Award by Vascular Cures.

Richard Powell, MD is Section Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, where he joined the staff in 1997. He received his medical degree from Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in 1986 and was selected as the Wylie Scholar in Academic Vascular Surgery Award recipient in 1999. Dr. Powell is currently leading an international clinical trial to evaluate a new type of stent for patients with advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD). He is also working on two clinical trials involving gene and stem cell therapies to prevent limb amputation in patients with advanced peripheral artery disease or critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Edith Tzeng, MD is Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of Vascular Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. She is focused on the problems of blood vessels healing after injury, bypass or angioplasty. She received her medical degree from the University of Chicago, The Pritzker School Of Medicine. In 2001 she was award Vascular Cures' Wylie Scholar in Academic Vascular Surgery research grant. Dr. Tzeng is also the Chief of Vascular Surgery at the Veterans’ Administration Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Renu Virmani, MD currently serves as Medical Director, CVPath, International Registry of Pathology in Gaithersburg, MD. She is recognized as one of the leaders in the search for diagnostic and treatment therapies for vulnerable plaque. Dr. Virmani is also Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology at Georgetown University, University of Maryland-Baltimore, Uniform University of Health Sciences and Vanderbilt University. She is responsible for multiple research grants in the field of pathology - most recently, a $1.3 million grant from the NIH for plaque progression, apoptosis, and inflammation. Dr. Virmani is an active lecturer and has authored over 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals in the field of atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaque, stents, and other cardiovascular diseases. She has received honorary awards that include the Joint Service Commendation Medal for Outstanding Meritorious Service as Chief of Cardiovascular Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (1979 - 1981). Dr. Virmani received her medical degree from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi University, in New Delhi, India.