Catherine Martel PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, and a research scientist at the Montreal Heart Institute in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) since 2014. During her postdoctoral training, she reported unprecedented insight on the route cholesterol is taking to leave the atherosclerotic lesion, and discovered a new key player in the modulation of cholesterol removal from the artery wall: the lymphatic system. The concept that we can better control lymphatic function early enough in the disease process to limit atherosclerosis development is novel and Dr. Martel’s ultimate goal is now to pioneer a fundamental path to explore the mechanisms connecting abnormal lymphatic function and atherosclerosis progression. Her lab is funded by several Canadian agencies, including the Banting Research Foundation, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).