The Council of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) of the American Heart Association holds an annual Spring meeting. The most recent rendition, ATVB 2011, was held at the Chicago, April 18-20, 2011. The meeting was a resounding success with 1047 registrants. This was the second meeting in a row where attendance exceeded 1000 registrants. The number of abstracts submitted to ATVB2011 was 692 and, for the second year in a row, was well above the typical ~400 abstracts that had been submitted in the previous 4 years. These statistics provide tangible evidence of the broad interest and commitment of the scientific community in the topic areas of ATVB and the overwhelming enthusiasm for the format and atmosphere of Spring ATVB meetings. Basic scientists, translational researchers and clinicians, both seasoned investigators and early career scientists, enjoy coming to ATVB Spring meetings! The next ATVB meeting, ATVB2012, for which we seek support, will be held May 1-3 at the Dolphin Hotel, Orlando, FL. As with previous applications, this proposal specifically request support for our Young Investigator Travel Awards. Knowing that the early stage investigators are the future of our scientific endeavor, a major emphasis of the ATVB meetings is to encourage the active involvement of the younger cohort of investigators in the ATVB Council of the AHA, in its Spring program and in the field of thrombosis, ateriosclerosis and vascular biology. The Young Investigator Travel Awards has been supported by NHLBI of NIH for 11 consecutive years. These awards are an integral part of our strategy to recruit, retain and actively engage young investigators in areas of research that are of major importance to the health of the US population.
This renewal application seeks support for Travel Awards for Young Investigators to attend the 2012ATVB meetings of the Council of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology of the American Heart Association. The ATVB meetings provide unique opportunities for early stage investigators to meet peers, present their work, and interact with senior colleagues across distinct disciplines that have an interest in cardiovascular disease as a unifying theme.