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12 SPEE CH BY PROF E SSOR V I CTOR J DZ AU Guest of Honour Professor Victor J Dzau was born in China and grew up in Hong Kong. He is President of the US National Academy of Medicine and Vice Chair of the US National Research Council. He is an internationally acclaimed leader and one of the most influential physician scientists globally. His seminal work in cardiovascular medicine and genetics laid the foundation for development of the class of lifesaving drugs known as ACE inhibitors, used globally to treat hypertension and heart failure. Professor Dzau pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease and cardiac regeneration by microRNA induced direct reprogramming. He was the first to introduce DNA decoy molecules to block transcription as gene therapy in humans. At the National Academies, Professor Dzau has designed and led important initiatives such as the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future; the Human Gene Editing Initiative; Vital Directions for Health and Health Care and the Grand Challenge in Healthy Longevity. He is a former chair of NIH’s Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee and is past chair of the Association of Academic Health Centers. Currently, he chairs the NIH Cardiovascular Progenitor Cell Consortium, the Scientific Boards of Qatar Genome Project, and Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences of University of Glasgow. He is a member of the Health Biomedical Sciences Council of Singapore. He chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Precision Medicine and now chairs the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and Aging. Previously, Professor Dzau has served as Chancellor of Duke University, CEO of Duke Health System, and Chair of Medicine at Stanford and Harvard Universities. He has received numerous awards including the Max Delbruck Medal from Berlin, the Gustav Nylin Medal from the Swedish Royal College of Medicine, the Polzer Prize from the European Academy of Sciences & Arts, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Henry Friesen International Prize and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Heart Association. He has received 13 honorary doctorates including one from The University of Hong Kong.