This application is to seek support for a symposium on """"""""Pollution and Heart Disease"""""""". This meeting will provide a scientific forum for presenting recent findings related to the cardiovascular effects of environmental pollutants. This symposium will bring together leading investigators in the area and facilitate interactions and critical discussion in areas related to the mechanisms by which air pollution affects the nature and the progression of heart disease. The symposium will be held at the University of Louisville, Louisville KY on Oct 16 and 17, 2004. The participants will include investigators from public and private universities in the US who are actively involved in research in this or a related line of investigation. The goal of this meeting is to collectively define the nature and the scope of the problem related to the cardiovascular effects of environmental pollutants. Although extensive epidemiological studies demonstrate a link between pollution and heart disease, it is unclear how the epidemiological data could be re-examined in relevant laboratory models, and how the cardiovascular effects of pollutants could be studied on a mechanistic basis to establish cause-and-effect relationships. Hence, the major goal of this meeting is to provide a cohesive forum for presenting, evaluating and discussing the latest approaches to understanding the effects of pollutants on cardiovascular health. Three topics will be covered: (1) Epidemiological and Experimental Studies on Ambient Air Particulates, (2) Acute Cardiovascular Responses to Pollutant Exposure and (3) Cardiovascular Consequences of Chronic Pollutant Exposure. The sessions will be followed by a panel discussion and the proceedings will be published. The symposium will help in nucleating a core group of investigators who could provide cohesive yet comprehensive expertise for understanding the cardiovascular effects of environmental pollutants and who could contribute towards the development of the newly emerging field of environmental cardiology.
