Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. New treatments are being formulated based on a better understanding of the signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, cell replacement therapy has recently emerged as a novel way of correcting contractile and vascular deficiencies in cardiovascular diseases. The focus of this conference will be on the use of somatic gene transfer and cell therapy in cardiovascular diseases. Targeting genes to the heart through somatic gene transfer or transplanting stem cells have the potential to alter our approach to patients with cardiovascular diseases. Gene and cell therapy allow us to test hypotheses about mechanisms of disease, and, it is hoped, tailor therapy accordingly. This symposium will bring together scientists from industry, clinicians and basic scientists. Through this combination of investigators with multidisciplinary backgrounds, diverse scientific perspectives will be brought into focus on gene and cell therapy. The conference will consist of 12 sessions over a total of 3 days. The topics of the sessions are: 1) Viral Vectors I, 2) Stem Cells I: Pluripotent Cells, 3) Viral Vectors II, 4) Stem Cells II: Endothelial Progenitor Cells, 5) Gene & Cell Delivery Methods, 6) Molecular Imaging, 7) Stem Cells III: Myoblast/Muscle Lineage, 8) Targets I: Hypertrophy Signals, 9) Targets II: Vascular, 10) Targets III: Arrhythmias & Metabolism, 11) Targets IV: Excitation - Contraction Coupling, 12) Targets V: Apoptosis. The convergence of investigators from different fields which are typically separate will hopefully foster greater collaborative efforts in gene and cell therapy and lead to a better understanding of treatment modalities for cardiovascular diseases.
