The Conference on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology is a two and one-half day meeting, May 20-22, 2000, to be held in Broomfield/Denver, Colorado. This meeting is designed to be an annual meeting that will focus on new emerging research in the areas of arteriosclerosis (lipids and lipoproteins), thrombosis and vascular biology. The meeting is sponsored by the Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology of the American Heart Association and in its first year is co- sponsored by the North American Vascular Biology Organization. The major goal of this conference is to bring together diverse disciplines within the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology research communities to allow investigators to exchange and disseminate information and to explore areas of cross- disciplinary interest. These disciplines have long been treated as separate entities yet in reality lipid and lipoprotein functions are interwoven with thrombotic and vascular wall events and vice versa. The program is designed to encourage cross- fertilization between these disciplines by examining new and emerging areas in lipids and lipoproteins, thrombosis and vascular biology in an informal setting. Hot Topics and Plenary sessions have been designed to stimulate interdisciplinary discussions and interactions in the areas angiogenesis, PPARs in atherosclerosis, nitric oxide function, abc1 gene in HDL metabolism, molecular genetics of vascular disease, and cell biology of the vessel wall. Special sessions planned by each of the representative areas, i.e., arteriosclerosis, thrombosis and vascular biology, will provide an opportunity for oral presentations of abstracts and each session begins with a keynote talk on the topic to be given by an expert in the field. The arteriosclerosis sessions cover the areas of transgenic and adenovirus models to study lipoprotein metabolism, HDL in atherosclerosis, diet and gene contribution to dyslipidemias, and lipases in atherosclerosis. The thrombosis sessions address the areas of protein C pathways, integrin biology, platelet signaling, and humoral and cellular factors in fibrinolysis. The vascular biology sessions include endothelial cell function, smooth muscle cell pathobiology, vascular autoregulation and remodeling, and inflammation in vascular disease. The conference will foster stronger links between arteriosclerosis, thrombosis and vascular biology and provide an opportunity for investigators to discuss newly breaking information. Because of the importance for developing well-rounded new investigators in the areas of lipids and lipoproteins, thrombosis and vascular biology, a major objective is to encourage young scientists to attend the conference.
