Warm and inviting. Plenty of engagement at each presentation. A straightforward format that allows everyone to participate at all presentations. Sense of unity. Great support for young researchers. And the ability to talk with prominent scientific leaders.
That’s how Dr. Carson Hoffmann describes his experience as a presenter at the 2022 Vascular Research Initiatives Conference. Scientists judged his abstract as one of the four top-scoring submissions, and all four trainees received the SVS Foundation’s Vascular Research Initiatives Conference Vascular Trainee Award and the opportunity to present at the conference.
His presentation was “Modifiable Mesenchymal Stem Cell Defects in Veterans With Diabetes Mellitus.” His mentor is Dr. Luke Brewster, former chair of the SVS Basic and Translational Research Committee, which oversees VRIC.
This year’s conference, held in conjunction with the American Heart Association’s Vascular Discovery Scientific Sessions, will be May 10 at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston. Registration opened Feb. 1.
VRIC emphasizes basic and translational vascular science in an atmosphere of discussion that motivates participants to discover solutions to problems affecting vascular patients. Participants generally include vascular surgeons, vascular biologists, physicians interested in vascular problems and vascular surgery trainees and research trainees in vascular surgery and vascular biology.
After being part of past academic meetings, Hoffman thought he knew what to expect from VRIC. He was wrong and, in fact, pleasantly surprised. “Being a newcomer and mostly a stranger, I was received with a warm welcome and invited to participate as if I had attended for many years,” he said. “I found this to be a very accepting and close-knit group of scientists that sought each other’s opinions and feedback to advance their academic pursuits just as much as they enjoyed the opportunity to gather as friends.”
The meeting’s strength is in its simplicity, said Hoffman. Because no talks overlap, all attendees can engage in each presentation, which promotes robust discussion. “I found that during breaks and at dinner, we were able to enjoy a rich dialogue over the day’s proceedings. There was a sense of unity as we had the spent the day together exploring different topics and avenues of discovery. Ultimately this led to a great deal of intersecting ideas paving the way for future collaborations as we explored mutual interests and complimentary expertise.”
Besides being an honor, his selection for the VRIC Trainee Award provided “a fantastic introduction with this scientific community.”
He said, “To be recognized in such a big manner for work done in the lab revealed the commitment of this group to fostering scientific research from up-and-coming researchers and wanting to get their efforts acknowledged. It was readily apparent that a high value was placed on supporting young researchers by the opportunity to be present for both the VRIC and the Vascular Discovery conference and to interact with highly esteemed and prominent scientific leaders in their respective fields. The ability to start forming these connections early is invaluable especially considering the depth of expertise present in this group as well as the enormous collegiality with which it possesses. I found this experience extremely positive as it opened up many opportunities for future collaborations and became the start of rich relationships with other investigators who share similar passions and goals.”
Also honored in 2022 were Dr. Mario Figueroa, Dr. Keven Mangum and Molly Schieber.