Mission
The British Atherosclerosis Society (BAS) Young Scientist Community (YSC) is a group of cardiovascular research scientists in their early career who are actively engaged in the BAS. The mission of the BAS YSC is to bring early-stage researchers together by offering a vibrant and supportive network, to boost their future career in cardiovascular science through scientific communication, career development and communal activities.
Mission
Activities
Introduction of the nucleus members:
Dr Elisa Duregotti
Elisa obtained her PhD at the University of Padova (Italy) and is now a Research Associate at Imperial College London, where she studies the contribution of perivascular innervation to atherosclerosis by combining her neuroscience and cardiovascular expertise. During her previous post-doc at King’s College London, she worked on the characterisation of perivascular adipose tissue in cardiometabolic disease.
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Dr Danila Gurgone
I am currently a Lecturer in Pharmacology at the School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health and an Affiliated Researcher at the School of Infection and Immunity, University of Glasgow. My research focuses on the immune response in cardiovascular diseases (CVD), spanning basic and clinical studies. I focus on targeting immune and inflammatory mechanisms underlying CVD, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart failure. I have previously worked on projects supported by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and the Italian Ministry for Universities and Research (MUR).
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Oliver Heaney
Ollie is a BHF-funded 2nd year PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield, investigating how the gut microbiome interacts with atherosclerosis through molecular manipulation of intestinal microbiota. He is also leading a research project investigating how bacterial metabolites affect pericytes, thanks to support from the Wellcome Trust. Ollie previously spent 3 years as a laboratory scientist at Waltham Petcare Science Institute. He completed earlier studies at the University of Manchester and acquired his M.Sc. (Neuroscience) and B.Sc. (Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology), with the Luckman Lab and Brain Inflammation Group.
Emily Horner
Emily Horner is currently a 2nd Year British Heart Foundation-funded PhD researcher at the Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds. Emily’s research focuses on how immune cell interactions contribute to immunometabolic dysfunction in cardiovascular disease. She previously completed her integrated Masters, in Biomedical Science, at the University of Birmingham, where she investigated the inflammatory response following severe thermal injury.
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Kavithra Harihararajah
I am currently a first-year PhD student at Aston Medical School, working in collaboration with the Listers Cardiovascular Research Group. My research focuses on the role of oxidised cholesterol derivatives (oxysterols) in coronary artery disease, particularly in the context of Drug-Coated Balloon (DCB) therapy. Through mass spectrometry-based lipidomics and advanced analytical techniques, I aim to better understand how lipid profile modulation can influence plaque progression and vascular healing.
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Ms Danielle Lezama
Danielle is a 2nd year BHF funded PhD student at the University of Birmingham (UoB) studying novel pathways to target inflammatory T cells in acute coronary syndromes. She completed her undergraduate studies at St Georges, University of London and her MRes in Cardiovascular Sciences at UoB.
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Dr Lia Pinto
Lia is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leeds, where she studies the role of the secretase BACE1 in regulating endothelial homeostasis. She completed her PhD at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (University of Luxembourg), investigating the role of chromatin stability in brain tumours. Previously, she completed her undergraduate studies between the University of Trento (Italy) and the University of Dundee (Scotland).
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Introduction of the Alumni members:
Dr Pelin Golforoush
Pelin’s research expertise is focused on the area of myocardial infarction. Initially investigating protein-protein interactions of associated myocardial infarction pathways, she advanced her research by developing novel compounds to reduce myocardial infarction damage. She has more recently focused on applying this knowledge to focus on cardioprotection for anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity during her time at Imperial College London. At The Hatter Cardiovascular Institute she is now using her expertise to target injury induced in atherosclerotic models. She joined the YSC as nucleus member in January 2022
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Dr Jordi Lambert
Jordi completed her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science at the University of Reading. She then obtained a PhD from the University of East Anglia in 2019, where she researched cell-matrix interactions in angiogenesis. She is currently a post-doc in the lab of Dr. Helle Jørgensen at the university of Cambridge, where she works on vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching in atherosclerosis. She joined the YSC as nucleus member in January 2022.
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Dr Chris Kotanidis
Chris is a NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Cardiology at the University of Newcastle with a research interest in translational data science and cardiovascular imaging. He obtained his medical degree in Greece and his DPhil from the University of Oxford.
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