Schedule

Speakers listed on the schedule are confirmed.

Schedule is subject to change

Day 1: Monday, Feb 2nd 2026

Welcome
08:00 – 08:30 Registration Poster set up and coffee
08:30 – 09:00 Mihi whakatau Welcome ceremony
09:00 – 09:10 Peter Hunter
Session 1: Multiscale modelling of the heart
Chair: Peter Hunter
09:10 – 09:35 Andrew McCulloch Multiscale modeling shows how 2-deoxy-ATP rescues ventricular function in heart failure
09:35 – 10:00 Steven Niederer Multiscale modelling of the heart
10:00 – 10:15 Kuba Chrobociński CVVR – Virtual Reality collaborative environment for the development of cardiovascular models
10:15 – 10:30 Alberto Zingaro Computational modelling of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: from patient-specific electromechanics to pharmacological response
10:30 – 11:10 Coffee break Posters on display
Session 2: Cardiovascular system and flow
Chair: Prashanna Khwaounjoo
11:10 – 11:35 David Nordsletten Cardiovascular Hemodynamics in the Left Heart Under VAD Support
11:35 – 12:00 Patrick Segers Arterial Wave Dynamics and Heart-Arterial Interactions
12:00 – 12:15 Alys Clark The role of the placental circulation in fetal cardiovascular health
12:15 – 12:30 Alessandro Giudici Characterisation of the femoral artery’s adaptation to simulated microgravity through growth and remodelling analysis of in vivo haemodynamic data
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Moderated Posters Session 1 from 1pm
Session 3: Cardiopulmonary interactions
Chair: Kelly Burrowes
14:00 – 14:25 Merryn Tawhai Multi-scale and patient-tailored models of pulmonary haemodynamics for predicting post-surgical outcomes
14:25 – 14:50 Daniela Valdez-Jasso Cardiopulmonary Coupling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Multi-Scale Insights From the Right Ventricle to the Pulmonary Arteries
14:50 – 15:15 Naomi Chesler Computational modelling of the lifelong cardiopulmonary consequences of postnatal hyperoxia with implications for the preterm born
15:15 – 15:30 Amir Landesberg Cardio-Respiratory Physiological Assist: An Adaptive Theragnostic Approach for Pulmonary Decongestion in Chronic Heart Failure, Ongoing First-In-Human Study
15:30 – 15:45 Behdad Shaarbaf Ebrahimi Mechanobiological Signatures of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) Across Vascular Orders
15:45 – 17:00 Coffee & Reception Posters on display

 

Day 2: Tuesday, Feb 3rd 2026

Session 4: Cardiac cell/tissue physiology
Chair: Andrew Taberner
09:10 – 09:35 Peter Kohl The surprising heart: cardiac myocytes as nano-pumps, cardiac nonmyocytes as micro-conductors, coronary reperfusion as a driver of macro-reentry
09:35 – 10:00 Gary Mirams Discriminating drug-ion channel binding mechanisms with rounds of optimal experimental design
10:00 – 10:15 Laura Bear Opposing effects of preload and afterload on repolarization: challenges of isolated heart models
10:15 – 10:30 Callum Zgierski-Johnston Occurrence and Prevention of Ischaemia-Reperfusion Arrhythmias in a Pig Model
10:30 – 11:10 Coffee break Posters on display
Session 5: Metabolism, growth & remodelling
Chair: Kenneth Tran
11:10 – 11:35 Dan Beard The vicious cycle of mechanical and metabolic dysfunction in heart failure
11:35 – 12:00 Mathias Peirlinck Multiscale cardiac growth and remodeling: perspectives, challenges, and opportunities
12:00 – 12:15 Julia Musgrave Human atrial models reveal the impact of diabetes on muscle mechanoenergetics via cross-bridge and Ca2+ handling mechanisms
12:15 – 12:30 Viviane Timmermann Cracks That Build Strength: A Quantitative View of Muscle Micro-Lesions and Adaptation
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Moderated Posters Session 2 from 1pm
Session 6: Clinical applications of cardiac research
Chair: Martyn Nash
14:00 – 14:25 Alistair Young Making Meshes from Sparse Imaging Data
14:25 – 14:50 Oscar Camara Clinical application of haemodynamic models in structural cardiology
14:50 – 15:15 Joost Lumens Cardiopulmonary Exercise Limitations
15:15 – 15:30 Debbie Zhao Method for generation of left ventricular meshes from 3D echocardiography for cardiac modelling applications
15:30 – 15:45 Radomir Chabiniok Predictive Biomechanical Modeling in Biventricular Conversion
15:45 – 17:00 Coffee & Reception Posters on display

 

Day 3: Wednesday, Feb 4th 2026

Session 7: Autonomic nervous system
Chair: Alys Clark
09:10 – 09:35 David Paterson Next generation neuromodulation to prevent ventricular arrhythmias
09:35 – 10:00 Johanna Montgomery Examining plasticity in GP neurons to determine mechanisms underpinning atrial fibrillation (AF)
10:00 – 10:25 Raj Vadigepalli TBD
10:25 – 11:10 Coffee break Posters on display
Session 8: Feedback control of the cardiopulmonary system
Chair: David Paterson
11:10 – 11:35 Julian Paton Giving the heart a taste of its own medicine
11:35 – 12:00 Robert Hester Simulation of Whole Body Integrative Physiology
12:00 – 12:15 Finbar Argus Predicting Response to Oxygen Delivery in a Computational Cardiovascular-Respiratory-Autonomic model
12:15 – 12:30 Alona Ben-Tal Mathematical modelling of the coupling between blood pressure control and breathing
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Moderated Posters Session 3 from 1pm
Session 9: Biophysical cardiopulmonary digital twins
Chair: Peter Hunter
14:00 – 14:25 Anna Sher Cardiac Modelling in Model-Informed Drug Development: Pharmaceutical Industry Lessons from Past, Present, and Future
14:25 – 14:50 Natalia Trayanova Digital Twins for Personalized Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease
14:50 – 15:05 Clara Jones Instant Population-Based Digital Twin Calibration: A Computational Framework for Real-time Clinical Decision Support
15:05 – 15:20 Simone Pezzuto Towards cardiac digital twins from echo and ECG: how far are we?
15:20 – 16:00 Coffee break Posters on display
16:00 – 16:30 Wrap-up 2027 meeting announcement & Poster Awards Ceremony
16:30 – 18:00 Reception Conference Atrium (drinks and nibbles)
Meeting Dinner (more details here)
20:15 (promptly) Meet at the Sky Tower Atrium
20:30 – 23:30 Orbit 360° Dinner – SkyTower

 

Day 4: Thursday, Feb 5th 2026

Waiheke Island Excursion (more details here)
9:00 Meet at Downtown Ferry Terminal (Piers 11 & 12)
Important: Due to the size of our group, it’s essential to arrive 60 minutes prior
10:00 Ferry departs to Waiheke Island
10:40 – 16:30 Waiheke Island tour
16:30 Ferry back to Auckland CBD (optional). Your ferry ticket allows you to take a later ferry if you’d prefer