Prof Gersh is the Professor of Medicine and Chair of Cardiovascular Education at Mayo Medical School, as well as Consultant of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. His major interests are in the natural history and therapy of acute and chronic coronary disease, the cardiomyopathies, and clinical electrophysiology with particular emphasis on atrial fibrillation and syncope. In regard to interdisciplinary research efforts, his interest is as a co-investigator in the BARI Trial interdigitates with endocrinology. He is involved in the development of a functional genomics program in the field of atrial fibrillation and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Prof Fox is a Professor of Cardiology of the University of Edinburgh. He was Chair of the Scientific and Clinical Programme of the European Society of Cardiology (2012 - 2014) and was a founding fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and has served as a Board member and lead for ischaemic heart disease on the Scientific Committee for the ESC Programme. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the European Society of Cardiology in 2010 for his contributions to cardiology. His major research interests are in the mechanisms and manifestations of acute coronary arterial disease and his work extends from underlying biological mechanisms to in vivo study and clinical trials. He is the recipient of various awards including those associated with keynote lectures at major congresses. He is the author of more than 600 publications. His publications have been widely cited.