Professor Francine Marques is a Fellow of the NHMRC (Emerging Leader 2, upcoming L1) and the Viertel Charitable Foundation. She earned her PhD in genomics from the University of Sydney in 2012, followed by postdoctoral training supported by prestigious fellowships from the NHMRC and the Heart Foundation. Since 2018, she has led the Hypertension Research Laboratory at Monash University, Australia, now based at the Victorian Heart Institute, where she also serves as Deputy Director (Discovery) and Co-Chair of the Cardiovascular Disease Program at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Her research focuses on improving cardiovascular health by building exceptional researchers and exploring innovative, translational strategies to lower blood pressure through the gut microbiome. Professor Marques has secured $15 million in competitive funding and published over 160 peer-reviewed papers. Her work has been recognised with 39 awards, including the 2019 AHA Hypertension Council Goldblatt Award, the 2021 Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk Medal, the 2024 Australian Society for Medical Research Peter Doherty Leading Light Award, the 2025 Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Jian Zhou Medal, and the 2026 International Society for Heart Research Outstanding Investigator Award.