The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) was incorporated in 1990 with an approximate membership of 100 individuals and has grown to its current membership of 10,000 that includes patients, caregivers, clinicians, research scientists, and allied health professionals. It supports a wide range of services and educational and research programs to benefit its large and diverse membership. One of the major activities supported by PHA is a biennial International Pulmonary Hypertension Conference. The meeting is unique in that it brings together medical professionals and researchers with the patients. The 9th International Conference will be held in Garden Grove, California on June 24-27, 2010. The Conference will begin with the Scientific Sessions for researchers and health professionals entitled Inflammation and Growth Factors in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). The Scientific Sessions begins on the evening of June 24 and continues throughout the day on June 25. Specific objectives of the Scientific Sessions are: 1) provide a forum for presentation of pivotal research results in PAH-related topics;2) encourage open exchange of ideas regarding new directions for collaborative research in PAH;3) highlight research accomplishments of junior investigators in the field to promote a life-long commitment to PAH;and 4) promote collaboration between basic and clinical researchers to stimulate more translational research. The Scientific Sessions will include an opening session to discuss the Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund (CMREF) program and an update on the NHLBI Pulmonary Vascular SCCOR program, an all day session with five keynote scientists discussing various aspects of inflammation, growth factors and cardiopulmonary disease, four abstract presentations from the poster session, and a poster viewing session of an anticipated 75 posters. The posters will also be available for viewing throughout the conference. It is expected that approximately 450 medical professionals and researchers will attend the Scientific Sessions. This application is seeking funds to support only the Scientific Sessions.
The Scientific Sessions will be addressing new pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment as it possibly relates to PAH. The number of PAH patients in the United States is not known, but it is estimated that 20,000-30,000 patients (Rino Aldrighetti, personal communication) are receiving treatment for the disease. There are now eight FDA approved treatments for PAH and patients are living longer, but their quality of life is often poor. There is no cure for PAH and survival is variable, ranging from months to more than 20 years. This meeting will be an attempt to identify mechanisms in the inflammatory and growth factor pathways that may have the potential to serve as targets for future treatments for PAH. It will bring together PAH scientists and clinicians with other cardiovascular scientists to exchange information on common research interests. It should also serve to foster collaboration between basic scientists and clinicians to stimulate more translational research.
