Rising stars: Andrew O. Agbaje

He leads the UndeRstanding FITness and Cardiometabolic Health In Little Darlings (urFIT-child) and has received the European Society of Cardiology Top Reviewer award for three consecutive years work on the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (Figure 1A). Can you tell us about your background and the path to your current role?About two years before graduating medical school, I believe God showed me a vision that I would contribute significantly to paediatric research, especially in cardiovascular and metabolic health.This seemed strange and unbelievable since I had struggled with undergraduate epidemiology and biostatistics-courses my medical colleagues and I considered necessary distractions from clinical studies.While working as a physician at a tertiary hospital in Nigeria, I noticed that many cases we treated were preventable and began thinking about preventive medicine in paediatrics, though I had limited knowledge of how to proceed.Coincidentally, in 2015, I found a free online course, Introduction to the Principle and Practice of Clinical Research, from the National Institutes of Health, USA.I passed this with flying colours, and this inspired me to apply for a master's degree in public health with a specialization in epidemiology.Any mentors or key influences that helped shape your career?Interestingly, I don't have a specific mentor.My rapid development into an internationally recognized researcher within seven years of my post-master's degree stems from reviewing manuscripts for major cardiology journals-usually one to two per week.Reading unpublished work from cardiovascular leaders and their responses to reviewers became my private school, significantly advancing my research processes and creativity.Consistently attending European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and American Heart Association (AHA) congresses led to a research collaboration with a past president of the AHA.How did your research career evolve?A pivotal event was experiencing 21 rejections of a single manuscript over two years.Based on the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) cohort that gave us dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements of lean and fat mass from childhood to young adulthood, I