Jemma Arakelyan Interviews Leslie Leinwand during the CityU-AFCR Symposium

During the CityU-AFCR Symposium at BioHK 2024 on September 12-13, Dr. Jemma Arakelyan interviewed Dr. Leslie Leinwand, Chief Scientific Officer at the BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder.

Dr. Jemma Arakelyan is a medical oncologist and the chief executive officer of The Institute of Cancer and Crisis. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the City University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on developing new anticancer treatments and understanding the underlying mechanisms of cancer progression.

In addition to her academic pursuits, she is an active member of several scientific organizations, including the European School of Oncology (ESO), where she served as an ambassador in Armenia from 2020-2022.

Dr Leslie Leinwand is a Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Distinguished Professor and the Chief Scientific Officer of the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. She was recruited to be Chair of MCDB in 1995.

She was also a co-founder of Hiberna, Inc, and more recently of MyoKardia, Inc, a publicly traded company founded to develop therapeutics, such as mavacamten for inherited cardiomyopathies. Camzyos (mavacamten), a first-in-class heart disease drug, was approved by the FDA on April 28, 2022 to treat symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a genetic condition that causes an enlarged dysfunctional heart and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death among young people. It is estimated that there are millions of patients worldwide who could benefit from this therapy.

Dr Leinwand is a Fellow of the AAAS, former MERIT Awardee of the NIH, Established Investigator of the American Heart Association and was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors.

The interests of Dr. Leinwand’s laboratory are the genetics and molecular physiology of inherited diseases of the heart and how gender and diet modify the heart.

During CityU – AFCR Symposium Leslie Leinwand spoke about a topic named ‘From Bench to Bedside: The Role of Basic Science in Treating a Deadly Heart Disease’.

CityU-AFCR Symposium on Precision Medicine and Digital Medicine took place from 12-13 September as part of BIOHK2024, in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The symposium showcased presentations by experts in precision medicine, providing a dynamic platform for the exchange of innovative ideas and fostering a collaborative environment for advancements in the biotechnology field.

Jemma Arakelyan: Dr. Leinwand, thanks a lot for agreeing to take part in our interviews. And my first question is, what were your initial career motivators that sparked your passion for this important research?

Leslie Leinwand: Thank you.

I’d say my initial motivations were genetics. I became quite fascinated by what role genetics will play in understanding disease and health at the same time. And then, on top of that, I’ve always been interested in the sex differences between men and women with respect to the heart.

Because heart disease in women may have different symptoms than in men. And it leads, unfortunately, to many women being undiagnosed until it might be too late. For example, with a heart attack, sometimes the symptoms are very, very different.

Jemma Arakelyan: I see. But why did you choose the heart? Why the heart was your target.

Leslie Leinwand: Well, unfortunately, because my father died at a very young age. With heart attack. And so, that was a personal reason.

Jemma Arakelyan: So, as a living example of success, can you share advice with our young researchers on how to commercialize their research? And where should they begin in this journey?

Because it’s very complicated.

Leslie Leinwand: Yes, it is complicated. It’s got to start with a good idea. And I think that a good idea will get you fairly far.

It also has to be balanced by whether it would make a difference. If you’re going after something that affects a lot of people, heart disease is not the one killer in the world.

So, there’s a huge market and an unmet need that still needs to be developed.

Jemma Arakelyan: I see. And my last question is, what is one achievement that you are exceptionally proud of in your career?

Leslie Leinwand: Getting an FDA-approved drug for which there was no treatment except the heart transplant.

Jemma Arakelyan: That’s really impressive. You already have so many, I’m sure. Thanks for your time.

I’m really impressed, how can hypertrophic cardiomyopathy be reversed. It’s very interesting.

Leslie Leinwand: Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s the beauty of science.

I was in New York giving a talk recently and I was meeting with a patient who’s been taking this medication and she could not use the New York City subway because you have to mostly go up and down steps and she couldn’t do it and now she can. That was a personal story that this person told me. That’s incredibly rewarding because one of the things that I have loved is meeting the patients and their families and that is a big part of it.

Particularly, I didn’t get this part into the talk today, but there are children and babies who are also symptomatic, even those babies had their heart transplants. I met a mother whose baby had her first heart transplant when she was three months old. Yeah, so it is very important.

Jemma Arakelyan: Indeed, very important. Thank you.

Leslie Leinwand: Thanks, I appreciate it.

More posts about the CityU-AFCR Symposium.