Professor of Cardiology, Director, Center for Translational and Experimental Cardiology (CTEC) Head, Cardiometabolic Division University Heart Center Department of Cardiology, Zürich, SWITZERLAND
Chromatin Remodeling at the Interface of Environment and Cardiometabolic Disease
Host: S. Zacchigna
Abstract
Chromatin remodelling mediates how environmental factors – namely metabolic insults and external exposures such as air pollution and social/psychological stress – reprogram tissue‑specific transcriptional programs that shape cardiometabolic risk. This lecture focuses on how these environmental stressors alter chromatin states to drive cardiomyocyte lipotoxicity, vascular and myocardial inflammation, and perivascular adipose dysfunction. Integrative approaches (epigenomics, single‑cell profiling, functional genomics) are used to identify causal regulatory elements and exposure‑responsive epigenetic signatures. Translational implications include use of dynamic epigenetic biomarkers for exposure‑informed risk stratification and monitoring, and development of epi‑therapeutics (chromatin‑modifying agents, targeted epigenome editing) to reverse maladaptive programs. A framework is proposed to combine exposure data, epigenomics and clinical phenotyping to enable individualized, mechanism‑based prevention and therapy.
Biography
Francesco Paneni is Professor of Cardiology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich and Senior Cardiology Consultant and Head of the Cardiometabolic Division in the Department of Cardiology, Zurich University Hospital. He is Director of the Center for Translational and Experimental Cardiology (CTEC) at Zurich University Hospital and Group Leader of the Cardiovascular Epigenetics Lab within CTEC. He earned his MD and PhD at the University of Rome “Sapienza.” During his training he was a research fellow at Mount Sinai Medical Center under the supervision of Prof. Valentin Fuster. Following his PhD, he completed postdoctoral training at the Institute of Cardiovascular Physiology, University of Zurich, and at the Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institute. The Paneni laboratory investigates how environmental stressors and chromatin remodeling contribute to cardiometabolic disease, with a focus on vascular dysfunction, fat inflammation, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. His work integrates translational and experimental approaches to identify novel epigenetic mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Prof. Paneni has received several awards from the European Society of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, including two ESC Basic Science Investigator Awards, the Circulation Research Best Manuscript Award, the ATVB Early Career Outstanding Investigator Award and the ESC Outstanding Achievement Award in 2026. He is author of 222 peer‑reviewed articles in leading journals and has been invited to deliver keynotes at major international meetings. He is a past Nucleus Member of the ESC Credential Committee and currently serves as Nucleus Member and Coordinator of the ESC Working Group on Cellular Biology of the Heart. He is also a remote reviewer for the European Research Council (ERC) and has served as a panel member for the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Research Council of Finland. Finally, Prof. Paneni is the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant (2026–2031).
International Seminar Programme
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