Gema Ruiz-Hurtado graduated in Biochemistry in 2002 from the Chemistry Faculty at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology and Human Therapeutics in 2008 at the Medicine Faculty at UCM. From 2008 to 2011 she did a postdoctoral stay at the Institute de la Santé et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM) at Montpellier and Paris. During the last 10 years, her research activities have been focused on the study of new molecular targets and biomarkers involved in hypertension, cardiovascular and renal disease. She has also focused in the study of the functional alterations at cellular and intracellular level associated with the presence of cardiac disease. She has a strong experience in the difficult analysis of calcium handling at intracardiomyocyte level using confocal microscopy.​ She has authored more than 100 articles in international journals of first level as Nature Review Cardiology, Diabetes Care, Clinical Science, Cardiovascular Research, British Journal of Pharmacology, Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology or Hypertension, among others. She is member of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH), the Spanish Society of Hypertension (SEH), the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) and the Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), the National Association of Hospital Researchers (ANIH) and the Biophysical Society. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Luis M. Ruilope is Professor at the Public Health and Preventive Medicine department of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and expert researcher at Universidad Europea de Madrid, at the same time that he is Head of the Translational Research Group in Hypertension and Cardiorenal Disease at the Institute of Research i+12 at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, in Madrid, Spain. ​ Dr. Ruilope is an international fellow of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research and the Council of the Kidney in Cardiovascular diseases of the American Heart Association. He is member of the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and he was president of the Spanish Hypertension Society and the Hypertension Spanish League. ​He has authored more than 750 articles as first/senior author in international journals of first level in cardiovascular and renal disease issue. He is or has been a member of the editorial board of several journals including Journal of Hypertension, Blood Pressure, Medicina Clínica, Hypertension, Journal of Human Hypertension, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and Nephrology and Dialysis & Transplantation.

Dr. Julian Segura received his MD degree from the University of Alcalá (Madrid) and completed his residency and fellowship in Nephrology at the Hospital “12 de Octubre” in Madrid, Spain. Since 1998, he works at the Hypertension Unit of Hospital “12 de Octubre”, and since 2013 he is the Head of the Hypertension Unit. ​ His principal area of interest is hypertension, kidney and cardiovascular risk factors. He has published several papers related to the development and prevalence of renal damage in hypertensive patients, the relationship between hypertensive renal damage and cardiovascular risk, and the relevance of metabolic syndrome in hypertensive patients. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Registry. ​ He is member of the Spanish Society of Hypertension, the European Society of Hypertension (ESH), the Spanish Society of Nephrology and the International Society of Nephrology. In March 2015 he was elected as President of the Spanish Society of Hypertension.

Almudena Val-Blasco is graduated in Biochemistry in 2014 from the Faculty of Science at Universidad de Zaragoza. She studied a Master in Biomedicine Research at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. In 2019, she obtained her Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biosciences in the Faculty of Medicine at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Next, she obtained a CIBER-CV postdoctoral contract at the Centro Molecular de Biología Severo Ochoa (Madrid). Then, she moved to France to the University Paris-Saclay for 3 years financed by the INSERM and by a Lefoulon-Delalande Postdoctoral Grant. In 2023, she was awarded with a competitive public contract Sara Borrell from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain) at the Hospital Universitario La Paz (Madrid). ​ Her research has been focused on the innate immune system as a crucial player in cardiovascular diseases, the excitation-contraction coupling study in cardiac pathologies, and the genesis of arrhythmia in congenital cardiac diseases. Her expertise involves ventricular, atrial, and sinoatrial cardiomyocytes isolation, study of in-vivo intracellular calcium and sodium dynamics by confocal microscopy, action potential study by microelectrodes, and h-iPS cardiomyocytes culture among others. ​ She has authored 21 scientific articles in renowned international scientific journals as the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Nature in Cardiovascular Research, JACC-Basic Translational Research, Acta Physiologica, etc. She in member of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group of Cellular Cardiac Electrophysiology and Working Group of the Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy, and the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

He is a multidisciplinary biotechnology professional whose academic and research trajectory spans several leading institutions in Spain and the United Kingdom. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology at the University of Cádiz (UCA), followed by a postgraduate specialization in Cancer Research at the University of Birmingham (UoB). He later strengthened his computational background with a Master’s in Bioinformatics and Biostatistics from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). ​ Professionally, he has gained hands‑on laboratory experience as a Laboratory Technician at Bionaturis S.A. / ADL Bionatur Solutions S.A., and advanced his scientific career through predoctoral research at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS). He subsequently earned his PhD in Molecular Biology, Biomedicine, and Clinical Research at the University of Seville (US). His postdoctoral work continued at the Health Research Institute of Hospital 12 de Octubre (Imas12), where he deepened his expertise in immunology and renal–cardiac interactions. ​ His research focuses on the immune response during kidney injury and its cardiac repercussions, particularly within Cardiorenal Syndrome Type 3. Throughout his career, he maintains a multidisciplinary mindset and a strong commitment to continuous learning.

​Graduated in Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and holder of a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the same institution. His main line of research focuses on type 3 cardiorenal syndrome, with particular emphasis on ischemia–reperfusion–induced acute kidney injury. He has gained experience in several research centers: the Alberto Sols Institute (Master’s thesis on adipose tissue, metabolism, and the role of SIRT1), the UCM Pluridisciplinary Institute (rat models of diabetic nephropathy), and CEU San Pablo University (metabolism and cardiovascular disease). He is currently completing his doctoral thesis, aiming to contribute translational knowledge in the field of renal and cardiovascular pathophysiology. His motivation is grounded in the conviction that rigorous research can drive the development of new therapeutic strategies and improve patients’ quality of life.

She holds a degree in Health Biology from the University of Alcalá (2024) and a Master’s degree in Molecular Biomedicine from the Autonomous University of Madrid (2025). She is currently beginning her research career within the Translational Research Laboratory in Hypertension and Cardiorenal Disease. This is the same esteemed laboratory where she completed both her Bachelor’s Final Project—awarded the 2nd Accésit in the XVII call for the best Final Degree Projects by the Official College of Biologists of the Community of Madrid—and her Master’s Final Project, thereby establishing the foundation of her scientific career in a highly translational environment. ​ Throughout these initial years of research, she has developed strong technical expertise in the management of experimental models, cell cultures, and patient samples. Her skill set includes the application of advanced molecular biology techniques, flow cytometry analysis, and confocal microscopy. ​ Her immediate professional goal is to continue advancing her scientific training within this translational framework, with the aim of fully elucidating the complex molecular mechanisms underlying the pathology under investigation.

Elisa Mercado García, Laboratory Technician in Clinical Diagnostics from Escuela Claudio Galeno (Alcobendas) and Senior Technician in Pathological Anatomy and Cytodiagnostics from Escuela Valle del Miro (Valdemoro), joined the group in 2020. She has worked in the Immunology, Hematology, and Biochemistry Laboratories at Hospital 12 de Octubre and at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), where she obtained her certification in Animal Care. ​ She has become the organizational hub of the group, coordinating the recruitment of patients from clinical cohorts related to acute kidney injury along with healthy participants as controls, managing colonies of various experimental animal models, and providing technical support to all members of the laboratory. She is skilled in a wide range of biochemical techniques such as ELISA, Western Blot (WB), and PCR; cell culture; flow cytometry; and the care and handling of laboratory animals. Her motto is: “Work with a smile.”