Junco Warren, a heart scientist at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, delivered a talk as an invited speaker at the American Heart Association Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Annual Meeting in Boston earlier this month.

The conference, in its 17th year, is the premier basic and translational cardiovascular event for leading researchers focused on treating and managing cardiovascular disease.

Warren, an assistant professor at the research institute and in Virginia Tech’s Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, gave a talk on the role of a key protein in heart health entitled "Role of Perm1 in Cardiac Energetics and Function” as part of a session focused on chemical compounds called lipids and their role in cardiovascular disease.

Warren’s research focuses on metabolic reprogramming in heart failure, and identifying ways to manage metabolic genes, regulatory molecules, and enzymes in the failing heart to improve heart health.