Meet the editors

Dr. Purevjav is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), USA. She is a fully trained pediatric cardiologist who earned her MD at the Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute (LMPI), Russia, followed by an internship and residency in pediatrics at the Mongolian National Medical University and a clinical fellowship in Pediatric Cardiology and Electrophysiology at LPMI. After obtaining her Ph.D.

in Medical Genetics and Molecular Biology at Shimane Medical University, Japan, Dr. Purevjav worked at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, USA, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA. As a professor at UTHSC, she continues to study the genetics, genomics, and systems genetics of heart diseases, specifically focusing on pediatric cardiomyopathies, arrhythmia disorders, and heart failure.

Dr. Hugo Martinez is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), USA, and a certified pediatric cardiologist with experience in transplant cardiology, mechanical circulatory support, cardio-genetics, and cardio-oncology. At Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, he is the Director of the Cardiovascular Genetics clinic and the Medical Co-Director of the Heart Transplant Service Line. At

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, he serves as a consulting physician for the Cardio-Oncology Service. His work philosophy is to be creative and efficient in the management of children and young adults with cardiac dysfunction. His academic projects investigate novel therapeutic modalities for heart failure, the evaluation of cardio-genomic profiles, and the analysis of therapy-related cardiovascular dysfunction in children and young adults with cancer. Dr. Martinez has been published in textbooks and high-impact journals and has been invited to present at national and international conferences.

Jeffrey A. Towbin, MD, is executive co-director of the Heart Institute, chief of pediatric cardiology at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital and University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), USA, and medical director of cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and transplant services. His interests include clinical, genetic, and mechanistic aspects of cardiomyopathies, arrhythmias, and sudden death with research focusing on gene

identification and animal and cellular models. His 590 publications have generated new knowledge, allowing clarification of underlying pathophysiology, which guides targeted diagnostic and treatment options. Dr. Towbin is the recipient of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Distinguished Scientist (Basic Science) Award (2007), Council on Cardiovascular Disease of the Young, American Heart Association (AHA) Meritorious Achievement Award (2010), AHA Basic Research Prize (2013), AHA Distinguished Scientist Award (2017), American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Helen B. Taussig Founder's Award (2023), and the 2023 Heart Failure Society of America Pioneer Award.

Umar Boston is a congenital heart surgeon who specializes in the surgical treatment of infants and children with heart failure. He is Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), USA. He is a co-founder of the Pediatric Heart Transplant Program at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, USA, where he currently serves as the surgical director of pediatric heart transplantation and ventricular assist device (VAD) service. He is

nationally recognized for his innovative VAD strategies to bridge infants with failed single-ventricle palliation to heart transplantation. He is a member of numerous surgical societies including the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, the Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society, and the and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, to name a few.
