Herein, we request NHLBI's continued support for the 2018 Summer Scientific Section of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council (BCVS) of the American Heart Association (AHA). Our annual conference has served as a hallmark scientific event for the AHA BCVS Council for more than a decade and has been partly supported by the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute (NHLBI) since 2005. Importantly, this committed ongoing support from NHLBI has significantly contributed to drawing attendees and has helped establish the conference as a ?must attend? conference among those invested in scientific research in cardiovascular biology and disease. Marking its fourteenth year in 2018, the conference will be held from July 30 to August 2, in San Antonio, Texas, at the Grand Hyatt, Hotel. The program co-chairs are Drs. Michael S. Kapiloff (Stanford University), Rong Tian (University of Washington) and Jennifer E. Van Eyk (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center). They have been working with Conference Program Committee and Council Chair to plan and execute 2018 conference. We will emphasize the recent advances and achievements in the field. The program co- chairs have proven track record in organizing scientific conferences, and their scientific expertise covers a broad range of disciplines.
The Specific Aims for this conference are to: (1) Demonstrate the frontiers of basic and translational cardiovascular science; (2) Improve collaborations among investigators with diverse geographic locations, disciplines and career stages; (3) Stimulate new ideas/directions; and (4) Promote the next generation of researchers in cardiovascular science. The planned agenda represents an exciting, fast-paced meeting with 32 sessions over 4 days, including a Keynote lecture by the internationally renowned female scientist, Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler (Goethe- University Frankfurt am Maim, Germany). Young/junior scientists will be invited to speak at each session and poster presentations. In addition, an entire morning of the meeting will be devoted to early stage investigators, as well as a separate competition for the ?Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award,? giving opportunity for senior postdocs and junior faculty with outstanding science and future potential to present their work. The 2018 conference will have more than 30% women faculty, reflecting our commitment to improving gender balance among invited speakers. Moreover, one breakfast session focusing on the career development and mentorship for women scientists is planned. Finally, a novel aspect of the meeting will be workshops focused on the use of state-of-the- art imaging and single cell `omics technologies. The budget requested in this application constitutes approximately 7% of the total meeting budget and the fund will be exclusively used towards 10 Cardiovascular Outreach Awards and 20 Young Investigator Travel Awards.
This proposal outlines the key prospects and focus for the 2018 Summer Scientific Conference of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council of the American Heart Association. As in the past tradition, this meeting convenes basic and translational cardiovascular scientists from around the world, with the common goal to bring together scientists nationally and internationally in one location. The emphasis is to stimulate collaboration on discovery/strategies toward novel cardiovascular therapeutics and to promote cardiovascular health and disseminate information on recent advances in the field. This meeting has become the ?go to? conference for intra- and interdisciplinary cross- fertilization of ideas and incorporation of new approaches from the general scientific community and plays a pivotal role in the training of junior scientists, women/minority faculty and cardiovascular fellows/trainees. The conference thus optimizes the potential for return of investment in medical research by using public dollars for public health.
