Speakers

Dr. Stanley Hazen received clinical training in Internal Medicine and subspecialty training in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism from Barnes/Jewish Hospital, and a PhD in Biophysical Chemistry and Molecular Biology from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. He holds multiple leadership positions at the Cleveland Clinic including chair, Department of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences, co-section head, Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation, and Director, Center for Microbiome & Human Health.  

Dr. Hazen (H-index 157; citations >170,000) has published >500 articles in basic and clinical journals alike in the fields of cardiovascular disease (CVD), lipid metabolism and inflammation. He has made pioneering discoveries in mechanisms contributing to cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, including fundamental studies linking defined oxidation pathways to CVD risk, diagnostics, and therapeutics; and the seminal discovery linking gut microbial pathways to CVD pathogenesis. His research in multiple areas has impacted clinical practice, and lays the foundation for both FDA- and EU-cleared diagnostic tests for CVD risk assessment in use worldwide. His research has also helped to spawn pharmaceutical development of CVD drugs in clinical trials.  

Dr. Hazen is an elected fellow to the National Academy of Medicine, USA. He also is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected member of the American Association of Physicians. 

Dr. John Thyfault’s research expertise is in exercise metabolism and mitochondrial energetics in the context of obesity and metabolic disease. His lab uses translational research approaches in animal models and human subjects to determine how exercise, physical activity, and aerobic capacity reduce susceptibility to chronic metabolic disease conditions. Dr. Thyfault is a Professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Department of Cellular Biology and Physiology and Department of Internal Medicine-Division of Endocrinology. He is also a Research Scientist at the KC VA Medical Center in Kansas City. He leads metabolism-based research at KUMC through serving as the Director of the KU Diabetes Institute, Co-Director of the Kansas Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research, and the Co-Director of the TOMAD’s NIH T32 training program. His research program has been continuously funded by the AHA, VA, or NIH since 2008.

Suzanne Devkota, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Cedars-Sinai Division of Gastroenterology and Director of the Cedars Human microbiome Research Institute. Her lab studies the role of the gut microbiome in inflammatory and metabolic diseases originating in the GI tract. Her research into dietary impacts on host-microbe interactions has led to some of the first mechanistic insights into why diseases such as IBD, diabetes, and food allergies have rapidly increased over the last 50-100 years. Her ongoing research focuses on the role of pathobionts- symbiotic microbes that turn pathogenic under certain selective pressures- on host immune responses, and counteractive nutritional therapies. More recently her lab has been studying the microbial ecology of gut bacterial translocation in the human body, and the host response, particularly of adipose tissue. Devkota teams with Cedars-Sinai physicians to combine clinical and basic research utilizing patient samples, in vivo conventional and gnotobiotic animal models, and sequencing- and culture-based microbial methodologies to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying clinical phenomena. Her goal is to add a powerful new dimension to diagnosis and treatment through a better understanding of gut microbial contributions to disease.