Professor Y.M. Pinto (1965) has been named Professor of Molecular Biology of Heart Failure in the Faculty of Medicine (AMC-UvA) of the University of Amsterdam.

Yigal Pinto's research focuses on heart failure, a very commonly occurring syndrome. Despite doctors' frequent success in preventing heart failure, approaches to the syndrome are still relatively old-fashioned because it is impossible to anticipate this serious problem in advance. Typical diagnostic techniques and treatment wait until the heart muscle has sufficiently deteriorated to produce symptoms and perform abnormally. Pinto's research is based on the assumption that specific molecular mechanisms become active in the heart muscle before symptoms are visible. The identification of these molecular mechanisms enables early treatment before symptoms appear, and makes it possible to better judge the effectiveness of new treatments. The translation of advanced molecular insight in to clinical practice is also of the utmost importance. Recently, Pinto was able to attract a 20 million euro subsidy from the Centre for Translational Molecular Medicine in order to apply various molecular insights in the area of heart failure to daily practice.

Between 2001 and 2007, Pinto worked as a cardiologist at the Medical Hospital in Maastricht. Prior to this, he worked at the UMC Groningen. Pinto was appointed Professor in 2005 at the Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands (ICIN) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

He is a member of both the Young Academy and the Council for Medical Sciences of the KNAW.