Joshua Norton Background.  Young patients with connective tissue disorders (CTDs) create a unique challenge for valve selection due to abnormal tissue biology, long life expectancy, re-intervention risk, anticoagulation considerations, and patient priorities such as lifestyle and pregnancy. [1, 2] Current ACC/AHA and ESC/EACTS guidelines emphasize patient-centered care but provide little…

Aaron Spearman Background: Traumatic hypovolemic shock remains a major cause of preventable early death after injury, and prehospital resuscitation strategy can significantly affect survival1. Recent trauma literature has moved away from large-volume crystalloid resuscitation because crystalloids do not restore oxygen-carrying capacity or coagulation factors and may worsen dilutional coagulopathy1. In…

Rachel Kurian Background:  Obesity is a growing global health concern, with adult prevalence roughly doubling since 1990.1 Recently, anti‑obesity medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have produced weight loss of approximately 15–20% of initial body weight.2, 3 Semaglutide, a glucagon‑like peptide‑1 (GLP‑1) receptor agonist (RA), enhances glucose‑dependent insulin secretion and…

Fouzul Kansul Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, accounting for nearly 20 million deaths per year [1,2]. Despite significant advancements in pharmacologic and interventional therapies, CVD treatments primarily target symptoms rather than underlying genetic causes [1-3]. CRISPR-Cas9, an RNA-guided genome editing tool, has…

Ethan Edwards Background: High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) is a life-threatening condition caused by abnormal pulmonary vasoconstriction in hypoxic environments. Exposure to elevations above 3,000 m is increasing due to growing participation in high-altitude travel and sports, placing a larger population at risk for HAPE.1 The purpose of this abstract is…

Stephan Bannikov Background:  Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become critical in the treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms because of its reduced perioperative morbidity compared to open repair.1,2 These interventions, while effective, require continuous postoperative monitoring for complications such as endoleaks.3 The current approach centers around computed tomography angiography (CTA)…

Aidan Atkins Background: Endothelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EndMT) is a phenotypic switch in which endothelial cells lose markers such as CD31 and VE‑cadherin and acquire mesenchymal features, including α‑smooth muscle actin, vimentin, and N‑cadherin.1 Although EndMT is required for normal valvulogenesis, its reactivation in adult tissues has been linked to myocardial fibrosis,…