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The Specific Aim of this proposal is to obtain partial funding for the organization of the 2019 Weinstein Cardiovascular Development Conference, which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Weinstein Cardiovascular Development Conference originated from a series of annual meetings where Investigators, funded by RFAs on Cardiac Development awarded in 1986, 1988, and 1990, came together for face-to-face interactions under the direction of Dr. Constance Weinstein and her colleagues at the NHLBI. Since its inception, the 3-day Weinstein Conference has been the premier opportunity for basic scientists, clinicians, engineers, and geneticists in the field of cardiovascular development to interact and present innovative, novel data and ideas on various traditional and emerging topics pertinent to cardiogenesis, the understanding of the mechanisms that underlie congenital heart defects, as well as adult disease with congenital origins. This Conference is one-of-a-kind for several reasons: First, the Conference is entirely driven by local and international organizing committees made up of researchers who hold no affiliation with established scientific societies. Second, the Conference is well attended by senior leaders in cardiac biology, many of whom have been attending this Conference throughout their academic careers. Third, the overriding goal of the Weinstein Conference is to expose and highlight the participation of early stage principle investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and pre-doctoral students for the majority of the platform and poster presentations. Fourth, a well- established collaborative environment associated with the Weinstein Conference that encourages dissemination of new, unpublished data, thereby increasing the impact of the scientific content. The objectives of each Conference are to bring together basic scientists, clinicians, engineers, and geneticists working in the areas of cardiovascular developmental and regenerative biology all over the world, to provide an interactive forum for early stage principle investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and pre-doctoral students to present their work and interact and network with senior principle investigators and peers, and to actively support diversity in cardiovascular science. In this proposal, financial support is requested for the 2019 Weinstein Conference to be held in Indianapolis. Funds will be used a) To supplement registration fees for trainees to keep costs at a minimum encouraging robust attendance of early career scientists, b) to provide financial assistance in the form of travel awards for under-represented minorities, and c) to support general conference costs.
. Major structural or genetic birth defects affect approximately 3% of births in the United States, are a major contributor to infant mortality, and result in billions of dollars in care costs. Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common of all birth defects occurring in nearly 1 in 100 live births and can coexist with other structural abnormalities. The Weinstein Cardiovascular Conference annually brings together clinical and basic scientists from around the world to discuss the latest findings about the underlying mechanisms as well as to present novel approaches to seek cures for cardiovascular abnormalities and disease, thus this proposal seeks support from the NHLBI to partially fund the 2019 Weinstein Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.
