Dear Colleagues from the Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology ESC Working Group,

We hope your 2025 is off to a great start! As we continue this exciting year, we wish you all the best in your professional and personal pursuits.

We are pleased to see many of you engaging with our new X page (@ESCWGAVBChair), which is growing steadily. To make it truly take off and reach all enthusiasts of atherosclerosis and vascular biology, we need your support - follow, engage, and share our updates! We also encourage you to join and remain connected through our #AtheroMatters LinkedIn group account.

ESC Congress 2025 – The Event of the Year!

ESC Congress 2025 (Madrid, 29 August – 1 September 2025) is THE cardiovascular event of the year, and it is an unmissable opportunity for all clinicians and scientists passionate about translational science, atherosclerosis, and vascular biology. The scientific programme has just been released, featuring multiple sessions dedicated to cutting-edge research and future directions, the main focus of the congress.
This is your chance to engage with top experts, network with peers, and gain insights into the latest breakthroughs. Let’s promote visibility of cardiovascular research and health and bring the most innovative findings to the ESC stage!

Other Upcoming Meetings

Beyond ESC Congress, 2025 offers other key events where you can meet fellow Working Group members and exchange knowledge. 

The 93rd EAS Congress in Glasgow (4–7 May 2025) will feature an exciting joint session between EAS and ESC, exploring New Horizons in the Understanding of the Inflammatory Nature of Atherosclerosis. 
The Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation will take place in Genoa, Italy (21–23 May 2025) and is an outstanding opportunity for discussion on cutting-edge clinical and translational science. Registration for both meetings is still open!

Recommended Readings

We are excited to highlight the Roadmap on Cardiovascular Aging, published in Nature Reviews Cardiology, co-authored by many of our working group members. A commentary on this key paper, written by Luca Liberale and Konstantinos Stellos, is available here: ESC Working Group Commentaries.

• Additionally, we recommend the following articles, which have been published in high-impact journals:
  Sensing ceramides by CYSLTR2 and P2RY6 to aggravate atherosclerosis. Zhang S, Lin H, Wang J, Rui J, Wang T, Cai Z, Huang S, Gao Y, Ma T, Fan R, Dai R, Li Z, Jia Y, Chen Q, He H, Tan J, Zhu S, Gu R, Dong Z, Li M, Xie E, Fu Y, Zheng J, Jiang C, Sun J, Kong W. Nature. 2025 Mar 6. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-08792-8.
• E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF128 promotes Lys63-linked polyubiquitination on SRB1 in macrophages and aggravates atherosclerosis. Liu Y, Zhang X, Yu L, Cao L, Zhang J, Li Q, Wang X, Qi W, Cai L, Ren R, Wang W, Guo X, Su G, Xi B, Zhang Y, Gao C, Zhang M, Zhang C. Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 4;16(1):2185.
• CXCL12 Derived From ACKR1(+) Intraplaque Neovessels Mediates CD8(+) T Cell Recruitment in Human Atherosclerosis. Parma L, Sachs N, Sobczak N, Li Z, Merchant K, Pauli J, Depuydt MAC, Wezel A, Smeets HJ, Bot I, Slütter B, Maegdefessel L, Weber C, Duchêne J, Megens RTA. Circulation. 2025 Feb 25;151(8):581-584. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.072560.

We hope this selection will inspire you and your future work!

COST ACTION EU-METAHEART – A Must for Metabolic Dysfunction Enthusiasts

We are excited to share insights from the recent COST Action EU-METAHEART nucleus meeting held in Heraklion, Crete. This initiative, known as the EUropean network to tackle METAbolic alterations in HEART failure (EU-METAHEART), brings together leading researchers from across Europe to deepen our understanding of metabolic dysfunctions in heart failure. By integrating diverse scientific expertise and cutting-edge technologies, EU-METAHEART aims to drive breakthrough science and improve patient outcomes.  

If you are interested in this crucial topic, we strongly encourage you to explore the initiative and consider applying to join through the COST Action website: https://cost-metaheart.eu.

Here is a picture of the Heraklion meeting capturing the collaborative spirit of this outstanding community.

Representation at the ESC Spring Meeting

We are also proud to highlight the presence of Elena Osto at the European Heart House, where she represented our community during the Spring Meeting with the ESC Board, Working Groups, Associations/Councils, and representatives of national cardiac societies. 

Stay Connected!

As always, we welcome your feedback. If you have any suggestions for future newsletters or topics you would like us to cover, please reach out to Luca Liberale (luca.liberale@unige.it) with the subject line: WG Atherosclerosis Vascular Biology.

Thank you for being an essential part of our community. Let’s keep the discussions going on X (@ESCWGAVBChair) and LinkedIn (#AtheroMatters) and we hope to meet you in person at one of the upcoming conferences!

Luca, Holger, Simon & Elena
On behalf of the ESC Working Group on Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology