Description: Funds are requested to support the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Vascular Biology to be held March 09 in Ventura, CA. The meeting will bring together speakers, discussants and participants that represent a wide range of disciplines, approaches and systems. The small size of the conference and the informal atmosphere will facilitate discussion and interactions. Recent developments in the field of vascular biology, such as new insights into cell-cell communications and vascular disturbances in various diseases make this a particularly timely meeting. SIGNIFICANCE: Vascular biology discoveries have been proceeding at a remarkable pace with many new molecules and concepts identified in the last 2 years. These have applicability in many diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation and a timely review is essential in this fast moving field. APPROACH: The GRC format will be utilized by providing an informal location and atmosphere that promotes scientific interactions. The relatively small size of the meeting (150 participants) and diversity of participants makes for an excellent exchange of ideas among both senior and junior investigators. Each session is thematic and is chaired by a Discussion Leader. Topics include extracellular matrix signaling, vascular cell differentiation, vascular stability and permeability, signal transduction and integration, cell-cell and cell-matrix communications and new molecular insights into hypoxia and metabolic regulation. Speakers and discussion leaders includes many of the leaders in the field (Iruela-Arispe, Carmeliet, Cheresh, Dejana). In addition to lectures there will be posters selected from submitted abstracts and a poster contest Only two posters per lab will be permitted to encourage diversity. Participants will be selected to provide a broad representation including clinical investigators and representatives from industry. Particular attention will be paid to women and minorities. Based on feedback from the previous meeting, and statistics regarding demographics of the previous participants, we have chosen topics and speakers to achieve diversity and address new areas within the field. The requested funds will be used to cover meeting fees and travel expenses of the speakers, chairs and 8 students and fellows. INVESTIGATORS: Michael Simons, M.D (chair) will be the principal investigator. The Vice-chair, Martin Schwartz, Ph.D. will assist Dr. Simons in organizing and running the conference. Both are experienced conference organizers having previously organized NAVBO, Keystone and GRC meetings. ENVIRONMENT: The meeting site has excellent facilities including audiovisual support, accessibility, rooms and food, size of conference rooms, and many areas for interactions among speakers and participants. We believe this will be a very successful GRC based on the timeliness of the subject matter, the excellence of the organization and program content, proposed speakers, and meeting facilities
Vascular biology has evolved over the past decade as a major cross-disciplinary field of study that impacts both diseases of the vessel wall (atherosclerosis, hypertension, and stroke) and major human diseases (cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes, hematological disorders and various immunological diseases). Importantly, advances in vascular biology have contributed to the development of many new therapies and preventive strategies.
