Guest Editors
Winok Lapidaire
University of Oxford
<p><span style="background-color: transparent;">Dr Winok Lapidaire is a Principal Investigator in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at Reuben College. She holds a PhD in Neuroimaging from University College London. Her research combines neuroimaging, cardiovascular imaging, microvascular imaging and artificial intelligence to understand how vascular disease affects multiple organs across the life course. Her work focuses on women's cardiovascular and brain health, particularly the role of microvascular dysfunction in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and its long-term consequences for the brain. She also co-invented a microvascular imaging device and co-developed a machine-learning framework for identifying hypertensive end-organ disease phenotypes.</span></p>
Elliot Bentine
University of Oxford
<p><span style="background-color: transparent;">Dr Elliot Bentine is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. He holds a PhD in Atomic and Laser Physics from the University of Oxford, where he developed new quantum technologies and methods for quantum sensing. Since then, his research has expanded to encompass new optical devices for medical imaging, with a focus on non-invasive methods for measuring blood and cardiovascular health.</span></p>
Collection Overview
The microcirculation plays a fundamental role in nutrient delivery, gas exchange, waste removal, blood pressure regulation, immune surveillance, and tissue homeostasis throughout life. Alterations in microvascular structure and function are increasingly recognized as key contributors to a broad spectrum of diseases, including cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, renal, metabolic, and pulmonary disorders, as well as pregnancy-related complications. Growing evidence suggests that these diverse conditions may represent different manifestations of a shared systemic microvascular phenotype.
Microvascular health may both shape and be shaped by key biological transitions across the life course, including early development, puberty, pregnancy, aging, and menopause, influencing physiological adaptation, disease susceptibility, and long-term health. Advances in experimental biology, preclinical models, multimodal imaging, vascular phenotyping, computational modeling, and systems biology now provide unprecedented opportunities to investigate the microcirculation across multiple organs and throughout the life course.
This collection welcomes Research Articles, Reviews, Case Reports, Method Articles, and Technical Reports describing vascular phenotyping approaches, therapeutic strategies, and investigations of the mechanisms underlying microvascular health and disease. We also encourage submissions addressing biomarkers, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of microvascular health across the life course. By bringing together research from diverse disciplines, this Topical Collection aims to foster collaboration and advance an integrated understanding of microvascular health across the lifespan.