Special Interview with Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine Editorial Board Member Prof. Davide Bolignano: Insights into Cardiorenal Interactions and the Journal's Development
20 March 2026
Welcome to this special interview with Professor Davide Bolignano, a distinguished member of the Editorial Board of Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine (RCM) and Guest Editor of the journal's Special Issue on "Cardiorenal Interactions: Biomarkers, Risk Stratification, and Therapeutic Strategies in Cardiovascular and Kidney Diseases". Professor Bolignano is a clinician-scientist at the Department of Surgical and Medical Sciences, University of Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy, where he integrates clinical practice in nephrology and dialysis with research on kidney disease, cardiovascular risk, and biomarkers. His international training includes positions at the CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology (Italy), the Cochrane Renal Group (Australia), Harvard Medical School (USA), and Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). In this interview, Professor Bolignano shares his journey into the cardiorenal field, his views on the latest research trends, and his experience collaborating with RCM.
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Davide Bolignano, MD, PhD, FERA |
| Department of Surgical and Medical Sciences, Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy | |
| Interests: cardiovascular risk in renal patients; biomarkers and prognostic models of cardiovascular and renal risk; the epidemiology and pathophysiology of chronic and acute kidney diseases |
1. Could you briefly introduce your academic background and your current main research interests? As a scholar dedicated to nephrology research, what motivations or scientific reflections led you to explore the intersection between nephrology and cardiovascular medicine?
My academic training is in clinical nephrology and epidemiology, with a focus on advanced chronic kidney disease, dialysis, and systemic complications of renal dysfunction. Over the years, my perspective expanded from a kidney‑centric view to a broader one that considers organ interactions—particularly between the heart and kidneys. This shift was driven by clinical experience: cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in kidney patients, yet for a long time these conditions were studied separately. In daily practice, it became clear that such separation does not reflect biological reality. The heart and kidneys are tightly connected through hemodynamic, neural, hormonal, inflammatory, and metabolic pathways. Recognizing this constant interaction led me to focus my research on the cardiorenal continuum, with particular attention to risk stratification, biomarkers, and therapeutic strategies that address the patient as a whole rather than isolated organs.
2. As a senior expert in nephrology and dialysis, you have accumulated extensive clinical experience. In the management of patients with kidney disease complicated by cardiovascular conditions, how does your clinical practice inform and enrich your research work? At the same time, how do you translate findings from cardiorenal research into clinical practice to further optimize patient care and therapeutic strategies?
In my view, clinical practice is a continuous source of research questions. Patients with advanced kidney disease—particularly those on dialysis—often present complex cardiovascular conditions that are not fully captured by clinical guidelines developed for the general population.
Through clinical observation, I frequently encounter issues such as treatment intolerance, blood pressure instability, difficulties in fluid management, and unexpected cardiovascular events. These experiences have highlighted the limitations of existing risk prediction models and have strongly influenced my research interests.
Much of my work, therefore, focuses on improving prognostic tools and identifying biomarkers that better reflect the complexity of cardiorenal patients. At the same time, I believe that research must remain clinically applicable. I prioritize findings that are robust, generalizable, and safe for fragile patient populations.
In practice, this often translates into more individualized strategies for fluid management, cardiovascular risk assessment, and therapeutic decision-making. For me, research and clinical care form a continuous feedback loop in which each helps refine and improve the other.
3. In recent years, novel biomarkers and prognostic models have gained increasing attention in the management of cardiovascular and kidney diseases. How do you assess their real-world clinical value and future potential?
In my opinion, novel biomarkers and prognostic models are certainly promising, but their true value depends on whether they can improve clinical decision-making beyond standard assessment methods.
A useful biomarker should not only describe a biological process but should ideally help clinicians better stratify risk, guide therapeutic decisions, and predict clinical outcomes in a meaningful way.
Many emerging biomarkers in cardiovascular and renal research reflect processes such as inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative stress, and interactions between the heart and kidney. While these mechanisms are important, relying on a single biomarker is rarely sufficient.
I believe that the future lies in more integrated approaches that combine multiple biomarkers with clinical variables to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of patient risk.
4. You are not only a member of our Editorial Board but also serve as a Guest Editor. In the Special Issue you are leading, entitled “Cardiorenal Interactions: Biomarkers, Risk Stratification, and Therapeutic Strategies in Cardiovascular and Kidney Diseases”, you emphasize the multidisciplinary integration of cardiology and nephrology. How do you consider the current development of this type of interdisciplinary or multi-organ—integrated research in today’s academic landscape? What do you see as its major scientific and clinical significance?
In my view, interdisciplinary research is no longer optional, but is necessary in modern medicine. It reflects the reality that most chronic diseases do not affect a single organ system.
The cardiorenal syndrome is a clear example of how interconnected disease processes can be. From a scientific perspective, integrated research enables us to identify shared pathways and mechanisms that may not be apparent when diseases are studied in isolation.
From a clinical perspective, interdisciplinary collaboration promotes more coordinated approaches to risk stratification and treatment, which ultimately helps reduce fragmentation in patient care.
This was exactly the vision behind the Special Issue I am editing. I aimed to bring together cardiologists, nephrologists, internists, and researchers from related fields to address common challenges in cardiorenal medicine and to promote a more comprehensive approach to patient management.
5. In recent years, AI technologies have advanced rapidly in the field of cardiovascular risk prediction. Based on your research experience, do you believe that AI-driven predictive models have brought meaningful breakthroughs compared with traditional statistical approaches? At present, what do you see as the major challenges in translating these models into routine clinical practice?
Artificial intelligence has certainly expanded our analytical capabilities, especially when dealing with complex and high-dimensional datasets. In some contexts, AI-driven models have shown strong predictive performance.
However, I believe that traditional statistical approaches remain very robust and highly interpretable. Therefore, the real added value of AI must be demonstrated through rigorous external validation and clear clinical applicability.
This is particularly important for underrepresented populations, such as patients with advanced kidney disease, who are often not adequately represented in large datasets.
At present, several barriers remain, including issues related to data quality, lack of external validation, and the need to build clinician trust in AI tools. For AI to be successfully integrated into routine clinical practice, these systems must provide transparent and actionable data—not just accurate predictions.
6. How did you first become involved with RCM, and what aspects of the journal do you find most appealing as an Editorial Board Member?
RCM's emphasis on the translational value of research findings and its adherence to an interdisciplinary research perspective are highly aligned with my own academic research priorities, which is the core reason for my choice to cooperate with the journal. As a member of the Editorial Board, I particularly appreciate the journal's commitment to balancing scientific rigor with the clinical applicability of research findings, which is also the core feature and advantage of RCM.
7. RCM emphasizes a rigorous and transparent peer-review process. As an experienced reviewer, what criteria do you prioritize when evaluating manuscripts? How would you describe RCM’s current performance in this regard?
When reviewing manuscripts, I prioritize methodological rigor, clarity of the research question, and, equally important, the relevance of the findings. A well‑designed study with transparent reporting and a clear acknowledgement of limitations is essential. In my experience, RCM maintains a constructive and balanced peer review process that supports scientific quality while encouraging academic dialogue.
Throughout this conversation, Prof. Bolignano highlighted the growing importance of interdisciplinary research in understanding the complex interactions between cardiovascular and kidney diseases. His insights underscore the need for integrated scientific approaches that combine clinical experience, biomarker discovery, advanced analytics, and collaborative research across multiple disciplines.
As a platform dedicated to advancing knowledge in cardiovascular medicine, Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine continues to promote rigorous peer review, interdisciplinary dialogue, and clinically meaningful research. With the support of global scholars, including Professor Bolignano, the journal will continue to advance academic innovation and facilitate the dissemination of knowledge in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Journal Homepage: Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine