BOSTON, June 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medera Inc. (“Medera”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation disease-modifying cardiovascular therapeutics, today announced the appointment of three internationally recognized leaders in heart failure and cardiopulmonary physiology to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Gregory Lewis, MD, Director of Heart Failure & Transplantation at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute and Harvard Medical School; Marat Fudim, MD, MHS, Head of the Heart Failure Unit at Duke University School of Medicine; and Rajeev Malhotra, MD, MS, Associate Director of the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute and Harvard Medical School.
These appointments bring deep expertise in cardiac hemodynamics, exercise physiology, and heart failure pathophysiology—areas central to Medera’s clinical development strategy, particularly in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), where objective physiological endpoints and functional capacity remain key determinants of therapeutic impact.
“We are very pleased to welcome Drs. Lewis, Fudim, and Malhotra to our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Ronald Li, PhD, CEO and Founder of Medera. “As our HFpEF program continues to generate consistent and clinically meaningful signals across cardiac hemodynamics and functional measures, the expanded SAB will provide important guidance in further strengthening the clinical and physiological framework supporting the program’s next stage of development. We look forward to sharing additional clinical updates in the near term.”
Scientific Advisory Board Appointments
Gregory Lewis, MD
Dr. Lewis leads the Heart Failure & Transplantation program at Massachusetts General Hospital and directs the Cardiopulmonary Exercise Laboratory. His work has been foundational in defining mechanisms of exercise intolerance in heart failure, including right ventricular–pulmonary vascular interactions and peripheral oxygen utilization—key drivers of symptoms and functional limitation in HFpEF. Dr. Lewis is also Jeffrey & Mary Ellen Jay Endowed Chair in Heart Failure and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Marat Fudim, MD, MHS
Dr. Fudim heads the Heart Failure Unit at Duke University School of Medicine and is a recognized expert in invasive hemodynamics and advanced heart failure management. His clinical and research work focuses on catheter-based assessment and therapeutic strategies to better characterize and treat heart failure physiology.
Rajeev Malhotra, MD, MS
Dr. Malhotra is a leader in cardiopulmonary physiology and cardiovascular translational research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His work integrates human clinical studies with mechanistic insights into vascular biology, metabolism, and cardiac function, supporting the development of novel therapeutic approaches in cardiovascular disease.
Medera is advancing a portfolio of AAV-based cardiac gene therapies targeting fundamental drivers of heart failure. Its lead program, SRD-002 for HFpEF, is a single-treatment designed to restore cardiac calcium handling and improve myocardial function. The program utilizes a targeted intracoronary delivery approach designed to enable localized cardiac transduction while minimizing systemic vector exposure. Clinical data generated to date demonstrate consistent and durable improvements in cardiac hemodynamics and functional measures in HFpEF patients, supporting continued advancement toward the next stage of development.
Expanded Scientific Advisory Leadership
With these appointments, Medera’s SAB represents a highly concentrated group of expertise across heart failure, cardiopulmonary physiology, and translational cardiovascular science.
In addition to Drs. Lewis, Fudim, and Malhotra, the SAB includes Brian Jaski, MD (San Diego Cardiac Center); Hesham Sadek, MD, PhD (University of Arizona College of Medicine); Dongsheng Duan, PhD (University of Missouri School of Medicine); Michael Taylor, MD, PhD (Dell Children's Hospital Medical Center); and Pat Furlong (CEO and Founder of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy), among others. Collectively, this group has contributed to advancing the understanding of heart failure mechanisms and to shaping the clinical and physiological endpoints used in modern cardiovascular drug development.
About Medera Inc.
Medera is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation therapies for cardiovascular and other serious diseases. Its pipeline includes multiple AAV-based gene therapy programs targeting heart failure and related conditions.
Medera operates through two core business units: Novoheart, which provides human-specific cardiac disease modeling and drug discovery platforms, and Sardocor, which leads clinical development of the company’s gene therapy pipeline. Together, these capabilities enable a translational approach bridging human-relevant discovery with clinical development.
For more information, please visit www.medera.bio.
Contacts
Ally Stubin
Public Relations
ICR Healthcare
Ally.stubin@icrhealthcare.com
646.667.1861
Stephanie Carrington
Investor Relations
ICR Healthcare
Stephanie.carrington@icrhealthcare.com
646.277.1282
