I came across the book "Cohen-Macaulay Representations" by Graham J. Leuschke and Roger Wiegand, and now I'm wondering if this is an active area of research. If yes, then

1. what are some of the big names in the field?
2. what are some of the active problems that people are interested in solving?
3. what are some of the conferences/seminars (closely) related to this topic?
4. what connections does it have to other fields?

I came across the book "Cohen-Macaulay Representations" by Graham J. Leuschke and Roger Wiegand, and now I'm wondering if this is an active area of research. If yes, then

what are some of the active problems that people are interested in solving, and what connections does it have to other fields?