Renata Cífková completed her medical education at Charles University in Prague and in 1986 earned a PhD in internal medicine with special emphasis on cardiology. Since 2009, she has been a Professor of Medicine with the Charles University Medical School in Prague. She has also been Head of the Center for Cardiovascular Prevention, Thomayer Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic since 2010.Prof. Cífková’s primary research interests are are epidemiology of cardiovascular risk factors, primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and clinical studies. She has held positions as Assistant Professor in the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education, Dept of Cardiology, Prague, Czech Republic and has also been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. In 1999, she was Honorary Visiting Professor, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.Member of the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Joint Task Forces of the European Society of Cardiology, European Atherosclerosis Society and European Society of Hypertension on prevention of coronary heart disease in clinical practiceMember of the European Society of Cardiology Task Force on cardiovascular disease in pregnancy. Member of the ESH/ESC Task Force for Joint Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension

Arterial hypertension – epidemiology, clinical trials, target organ damage – prevention and regression | Epidemiology of atherosclerosis | Preventive cardiology | Angiology

Director endocrinology, fellowship Madigan Army Medical Center, 1976-78; director, chief medicine and program director internal medicine residency program Eisenhower Army Medical Center, 1978-81, chairman directorate of clinical investigation, 1978-81, director endocrinology fellowship program; medical consultant Tuskegee VA Hospital, Alabama, 1985—; member national high blood pressure education committee NHLBI/NIH, National Diabetes Mellitus Adv. Council, National Diabetes Adv. Board, NHLBI working Committee on Hypertension and Diabetes; chairman Sub Committee Special Population and Situations, chairman subcom., executive committee Joint National Commission Detection Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure; diabetes epidemic action council Am. Diabetes Assn; member IOM/NAS Committee Medical Evaluation Vets. Disability Compensation, 2006-08.

Diabetes,Clinical Hypertension,Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Robert J. Chilton, DO, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the Audie Murphy VA/University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. A fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Internists, and American Heart Association, Dr. Chilton also chairs the Electrophysiology Board Examination for the American Osteopathic Association and presides over the San Antonio chapters of both the Cardiovascular Society and American Heart Association. Dr. Chilton received his Bachelor of Science degree from Philips University, Enid, Oklahoma, and his DO from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, Des Moines, Iowa. He completed his internship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; his residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and a cardiology fellowship at the Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Chilton is board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, and electrophysiology. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Chilton has authored numerous articles, book chapters, abstracts, and presentations on cardiology. He has developed educational materials and has lectured widely, garnering several awards for his academic contributions, including 1994 Outstanding Teacher from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Interventional Cardiology,Cardiology,Internal Medicine

Dr. Venkat Gopalakrishnan is a Professor and Head in the Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine in the University of Saskatchewan. His Academic Credentials includes B.Sc., Chemistry, M.Sc., Ph.D., in the University of Madras, India, His research includes Cellular and Subcellular Basis for the Vascular and Cardiac Actions of Peptides (arginine vasopressin, angiotensin II, endothelin and ghrelin). Studies involve characterization of Ca2+ signal transduction events regulated by peptides using: i) functional measurement of changes in tension responses of cardiac and vascular tissues, perfused vascular bed preparations (ii) receptor binding and receptor expression studies using primary cultures of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, minimally passaged cultured rat vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells and endothelial cells (EC), iii) agonist(s)-evoked changes in effector systems (measurement of IP3, cAMP, cGMP, cysteinyl leukotrienes and [Ca2+]i levels and protein kinase C activity), (iv) quantification of [Ca2+]i, changes in single cardiomyocyte, VSM cells and EC using imaging technique. The major focus is to examine the role of these peptides in both normal as well as experimental models of hypertension and diabetes mellitus

diabetes mellitus, hypertension,receptor binding and receptor expression studies,