Make travel plans now to attend Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) – the Society for Vascular Surgery’s essential meeting for translational vascular science and interdisciplinary research. This year VRIC will be held on Monday, May 13, in Boston.
Sometimes dubbed “the SVS annual meeting for basic and translational research,” VRIC focuses on emerging vascular science and biology. “With more excellent abstracts than ever submitted in prior years, the program committee expanded the scientific program for 2019 to include a QuickShot Poster Session,” said Luke Brewster, MD, PhD, chair of the SVS Research and Education Committee.
The posters will be displayed for viewing during lunch, and authors will present their research in a competition format led by Mohamed Zayed, MD, PhD, during the VRIC reception.
This year’s theme is “Hard Science: Calcification and Vascular Solutions.” Abstracts will cover four topic areas crucial to the understanding of vascular disease progression and potential treatments: vascular remodeling, thrombosis and discovery science for venous disease; vascular regeneration, stem cells and wound healing; aortopathies and novel vascular devices; and atherosclerosis, arterial injury and diabetes.
Four VRIC scholarship winners will be recognized:
- Edmund B. Chen, who will present on “Microbial Colonization Restores Neointimal Hyperplasia Development after Arterial Injury in Germ-Free Mice;”
- Peter Kip, “Periprocedural Hydrogen Sulfide Therapy Impairs Vascular Remodeling and Improves Vein Graft Patency;”
- Constance J. Mietus, “Microvascular Pathology Influences Walking Performance in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease;”
- Thomas A. Sorrentino, “Circulating Exosomes in PAD Patients: Disease Severity Correlates with Effects on Vascular Cell Migration and miRNA Content.”
Dr. Brewster also noted that two of last year’s four scholarship recipients, Drs. Catherine Go and Karim Salem, will return this year to present updates on their work. “VRIC is a great opportunity for our younger members just beginning their research careers,” he said. “It is a privilege for me to see these young people develop and to see how their effort in the laboratory leads to successes in improving our understanding and treatment of vascular disease.”
Other VRIC highlights include:
The Alexander W. Clowes Distinguished Lecture, presented by Cecilia Giachelli, PhD, the W. Hunter and Dorothy Simpson Professor and Endowed Chair of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. She will discuss “New Concepts in Regulation and Bioengineered Therapies for Vascular and Valvular Calcification.”
The Translational Panel discussing “Hard Science: Calcification and Vascular Solutions,” featuring Raul Guzman, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston; Elena Aikawa, MD, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston; and Dwight Towlers, MD, PhD, of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Recognition of the work of Dr. Frank LoGerfo, William V. McDermott Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.
For more information, visit vsweb.org/VRIC19.