This is a competing renewal application for a multi-year conference grant 7R13HL078309 Symposium: American Heart Association Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences. The renewal pertains to years 6-10, 07/01/09-06/30/14. This grant supports what has become the major annual meeting in the world dealing with molecular cardiovascular biology and disease. It is sponsored by the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences of the American Heart Association, the world's leading organization of cardiovascular scientists. The origins of the conference date back to 1991 when the Council initiated a meeting focused on """"""""molecular cardiology"""""""". Follow-up meetings were held sporadically before the conference became an annual event starting in 2002. In 2004, the American Heart Association formally recognized this conference as a permanent, recurring scientific meeting and R13 funding commenced. The scientific content represents is a deliberate mix of traditional topics in molecular cardiovascular science and novel areas. The latter, which are often discussed by experts outside of the cardiovascular field, have included at various times stress pathways, apoptosis, stem cells, functional genomics, high throughput chemical screens, microRNAs, and others. The meeting, which has now taken place regularly for 7 consecutive years, is held during the summer at a Western states location that is secluded but within 90 minutes of a major airport. The pace of the meeting is ambitious and contributes to the scientific intensity. The 2008 meeting included 51 speakers in 11 sessions, 1 keynote speaker, 4 early career investigator finalists, and 187 posters. Significant """"""""interaction time"""""""" is provided, however, in the form of 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 6 coffee breaks, and 3 poster sessions. The 2009 meeting will be 07/20/09-07/23/09 at the Ritz Carlton, in Lake Las Vegas, NV and organized by Jeffery Molkentin, Thomas Force, Helmut Drexler, and Issei Komuro. Epigenetics will be a featured topic. Support sought from NHLBI would constitute 7% of conference costs and would be used toward Cardiovascular Outreach Awards (minority travel awards) and New Investigator Travel Awards.
This grant supports a series of annual conferences, where cardiovascular scientists meet to discuss their results. Meetings of this type accelerate the discovery of new cures for diseases of the heart and blood vessels. In addition, the sharing of information optimizes the return on tax dollars used for medical research.
