Ernest Diez Benavente

I am an Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology at UMC Utrecht, integrated in the clinical Department of  Cardiology. I lead a multidisciplinary research group focused on 1. understanding mechanisms of cardiovascular disease through data-driven approaches segregated by sex, and 2. translating this knowledge into clinically meaningful, sex-aware diagnostics that improve the accuracy and timeliness of cardiovascular disease detection in the larger and smaller coronary arteries. 

In the past years, partly led by my team, we have generated state-of-the-art large-scale biological data, including genetics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics for different cardiovascular relevant tissues. My team currently focuses on generating further valuable resources, while at the same time makes use of this vast data through a combination of epidemiological, bioinformatics and in vitro methodologies to improve our understanding of cardiovascular disease mechanisms.

My main research has been established around the foundations of the several well-characterised and long-running clinical studies and biobanks in collaboration within the Department of Experimental Cardiology, the Department of Cardiology and the Department of Vascular Biology. These include the Athero-Express, HELPFul, UNRAVEL, Ucorbio and Crew-Imago. As part of my research, I have also helped establish new cohorts such as the IMPRESS-UMCU and ENDOTYPE. I currently contribute to several internationally-funded consortia such as the ID-SCAD ICRPA and the Leducq Foundation AtheroGEN. Recently we obtained funding from EQT foundation and Wellcome Leap to pursue our innovative diagnostics valorisation. These projects all focus on translating sex-specific cardiovascular disease mechanisms into clinical applications, such as diagnostics. Through my contributions in these consortia, I have been able to establish long-lasting collaborations with some of the leading institutions in cardiovascular disease, such as UCLA, University of Virginia, Karolinska Institute and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and leading institutions in the Netherlands, such as Radboud UMC, Amsterdam UMC and others.