Xander Wehrens MD PhD is the Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute, Quigley endowed Chair in Cardiology, and Professor of Medicine and Physiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He is internationally recognized for pioneering research on cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure mechanisms. Dr. Wehrens obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Dr. Wehrens was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Andrew Marks at Columbia University, where he performed seminal work on the role of ryanodine receptors in heart disease. His research has led to the development of small molecule inhibitors of ryanodine receptors that are in preclinical development. Dr. Wehrens is supported by four NIH grants and has published over 280 papers. He has served as co-director of the Medical Scientist Training Program since 2009 and has personally mentored over 100 trainees. Dr. Wehrens is a fellow of the ESC, AHA, HRS, and ISHR, and elected member of the ASCI and AAP.