March 30, 2017
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April 22, 2017
Meetings

Lymphatic Forum
in Chicago, IL
June 8-10, 20 17
Abstract deadline: April 3

Vasculata 2017
Chicago, IL 
July 24-27, 2017
Abstract deadline: June 1 

 
Vascular Biology
Monterey, CA  
October 15-19, 2017
Abstract deadline: Aug 1 


20th IVBM
Helsinki, Finland
June 3-7, 2018 
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Contributors
NAVBO's Role in Supporting Scientific Research
March for Science
NAVBO is now an official partner of the March for Science ( https://www.marchforscience.com/partners/). 
The purpose of this March is to champion robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest.  Find out more about the March and find a participating city near you at https://www.marchforscience.com/.  In addition to the primary March in Washington, DC, there are now 428 satellite marches.  
 
Research!America 
NAVBO has joined Research!America, 
the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance committed to making research to improve health a higher national priority. The members of the Research!America alliance include scientific and professional societies, as well as universities, hospitals and independent research institutes, patient groups and coalitions, and business and industry leaders - representing all the stakeholders in research.  Research!America aims to ensure that public policy promotes U.S. medical research and innovation to improve the nation's health, and our broad-ranging and diverse membership enables bipartisan efforts to convey to policymakers that Americans deserve a stronger national commitment to global scientific leadership. 
NAVBO Career Center - Revamped
NAVBO Career Center Improvements
The pricing structure for the NAVBO Career Center has been updated - no longer is there a long list of confusing enhancements in an a la carte menu.  We've bundled enhancements into three great plans: Basic, Enhanced and Premium.  Members can still get a 30-day posting at no charge by choosing the Basic Plan and entering a promo code.  The 30-day posting includes your full company profile, search engine and mobile optimization, resume exports and alerts, and advanced filtering.  Only for members:  the Basic Plan will also include postings on the NAVBO homepage and in the NAVBO NewsBEAT.  Members will save $150 on all plans.  The Premium Plan is only $200 for members and includes a 60-day posting with listings on other web sites such as Indeed.  Check out all of the features at http://navbo.webscribble.com/employer-offers.

Members should look for the link, called "Member Promo Code" on the pricing schedule page, to access the code for the member discount.  This code will change quarterly.  You can also request the code from [email protected] or [email protected]
Last Call for Applications
Consider Running for NAVBO Council
If you would like to get more involved with the activities of the society, consider running for Council.  Applications are reviewed by a sub-committee of the current Council and up to six candidates will be chosen to run.  If interested go to http://www.navbo.org/membership/call-for-council-nominations .  You must be a current member and you will be required to log in to access this web page.  Application deadline is March 31.

Seeking Session Proposals for VB2018 
We are currently seeking session proposals from our membership for inclusion in our Vascular Biology 2018 Program.  For 2018, we are searching for proposals for a Vascular Therapeutics session in addition to the open topic determined by the submitting member.  Go to http://www.navbo.org/vb2018rfp and log in to submit your proposal.  Open to current members only. 
Submission deadline is April 3.
Travel Awards to the Angiogenesis GRC
NAVBO Continues to Support Travel Awards to the GRC
This year NAVBO will support two travel awards, $500US each, to the Angiogenesis Gordon Research Conference organized by NAVBO members Drs. Shahin Rafii and Hellmut Augustin.  You and your PI must be NAVBO members in order to be eligible for the award.  Click here for details.

Applications must be submitted by June 1.
Lab of the Month
The Lab of Dr. Victoria Bautch This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Victoria Bautch, who is Professor and Chair of the Biology Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Find out more about Dr. Bautch's lab at http://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/584-lab032017.
Spotlight on Trainees
Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology 
The annual Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology is an international award which honors young scientists for their outstanding contributions to neurobiological research based on methods of molecular and cell biology. The winner and finalists are selected by a committee of independent scientists, chaired by Science's Senior Editor, Dr. Peter Stern. Researchers who are not older than 35 years are invited to apply.
The winner receives:
  • Prize money of US$25,000
  • Publication in Science of an essay by the winner about his/her research
  • Full support to attend the Prize Ceremony held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in the USA
  • An invitation to visit Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany
  • Up to three finalists are honored, too!
Application deadline: June 15, 2017 - go to www.eppendorf.com/prize
Member News
Welcome to our New Members:
Laszlo Balint, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Semmelweis University
Mariana Burgos Angulo, University of South Florida
Dennis Jones, Massachusetts General Hospital
Ah-Ra Kim, GIST
Edward Thorp, Northwestern University
 Recent Publications by NAVBO Members

Parenteral administration of factor Xa/IIa inhibitors limits experimental aortic aneurysm and atherosclerosis
Scientific Reports
Intraluminal thrombus is a consistent feature of human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Coagulation factor Xa (FXa) catalyses FII to thrombin (FIIa). We examined the effect of FXa/FIIa inhibition on experimental aortic aneurysm in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice infused with angiotensin II (AngII).  Read more 

 

Wnt Signaling Pathway Inhibitor Sclerostin Inhibits Angiotensin II-Induced Aortic Aneurysm and Atherosclerosis
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
OBJECTIVE: Sclerostin (SOST) has been identified as an important regulator of bone formation; however, it has not been previously implicated in arterial disease. The aim of this study was to assess the role of SOST in aortic aneurysm (AA) and atherosclerosis using human samples, a mouse model, and in vitro investigations.  Read more 

 

Flow enhances the agonist-induced responses of the bradykinin receptor (B2) because of its lectinic nature: Role of its oligosaccharide environment
Journal of Translational Science
Studies in perfused hearts show that flow-sensitive G-protein coupled receptors are lectinic suggesting that flow exerts its effects by modulating the interaction between endothelial surface layer oligosaccharides and lectinic transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors.  Read more 

 

Experimental Lung Injury Reduces Kruppel-like Factor 2 to Increase Endothelial Permeability via Regulation of RAPGEF3-Rac1 Signaling
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
RATIONALE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is caused by widespread endothelial barrier disruption and uncontrolled cytokine storm. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have linked multiple genes to ARDS. Although mechanosensitive transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) is a major regulator of endothelial function, its role in regulating pulmonary vascular integrity in lung injury and ARDS-associated GWAS genes remains poorly understood.  Read more 

 

VEGF165-induced vascular permeability requires NRP1 for ABL-mediated SRC family kinase activation
Journal of Experimental Medicine
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoform VEGF165 stimulates vascular growth and hyperpermeability. Whereas blood vessel growth is essential to sustain organ health, chronic hyperpermeability causes damaging tissue edema.  Read more 

 

Estrogen preserves pulsatile pulmonary arterial hemodynamics in pulmonary arterial hypertension
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is caused by extensive pulmonary vascular remodeling that increases right ventricular (RV) afterload and leads to RV failure. PAH predominantly affects women; paradoxically, female PAH patients have better outcomes than men.  Read more 

 

MicroRNAs Establish Uniform Traits during the Architecture of Vertebrate Embryos
Developmental Cell
Proper functioning of an organism requires cells and tissues to behave in uniform, well-organized ways. How this optimum of phenotypes is achieved during the development of vertebrates is unclear. Here, the authors carried out a multi-faceted and single-cell resolution screen of zebrafish embryonic blood vessels upon mutagenesis of single and multi-gene microRNA (miRNA) families.  Read more 

 

Gradual suppression of transcytosis governs functional blood-retinal barrier formation
Neuron
Blood-central nervous system (CNS) barriers partition neural tissues from the blood, providing a homeostatic environment for proper neural function. The endothelial cells that form blood-CNS barriers have specialized tight junctions and low rates of transcytosis to limit the flux of substances between blood and CNS.  Read more - Click here for additional news about this paper 

Industry News
Former NIH Director Addresses President Trump's Biomedical Cuts
Harold Varmus, MD, former Director of the NIH and the National Cancer Institute, notes in a New York Times op-ed that "it would be a mistake to be complacent about the President's proposal, because it is likely to have real consequences." Dr. Varmus outlines the repercussions of an 18% reduction in the NIH budget, exacerbated by the multi-year nature of the research program grants awarded by the agency. Similarly, Jeffrey Mervis writes in
Science Insider on the treatment of research in the budget: "The new president is no fan of research, and his administration has no overarching strategy for funding science."  
 
What are the realistic prospects for successful treatment of cardiac diseases using stem cells?
The remarkable plasticity of stem cells has inspired the full spectrum of predictions regarding their utility as the basis for breakthrough treatments of diseases of the heart and peripheral vasculature. A   recent article in Med Page Today notes that "despite an unrelieved history of negative trials, stem cell leaders continue to defend their field." Roberto Bolli, a leading investigator of cardiac injury occurring during ischemia and reperfusion, argues in Circulation Research   that we need more stem cell therapy, not less, in the form of repeated doses of stem cells: "just as most pharmacologic agents are ineffective when given once but can be highly effective when given repeatedly, so a cell product may be ineffective, or modestly effective, when given as a single treatment, but may turn out to be quite efficacious if given repeatedly." Critics note that there is scant existence of any "salubrious effect" that would justify a repeatedly-invasive schedule of cell delivery to the heart.  
 
Open Access Publishing Venture Backed by the Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced creation of the Gates Open Research initiative, an open access publishing venture to be launched later this year. The program is described as "a scholarly publishing platform that makes research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation available quickly and in a format supporting research integrity, reproducibility and transparency. Its open access model enables immediate publication followed by open, invited peer review, combined with an open data policy." Of special note is their stated intent " to publish a broad range of outputs on Gates Open Research, from standard research articles and data sets to negative, confirmatory and null findings."
Job Postings
Job Title
Company
Location
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Associate/Full Professor
University of Toronto-IBBME
Toronto, Ontario
University of Toronto - IBBME
Toronto, Ontario
University of Toronto-IBBME
Toronto, Ontario
Yale University School of Medicine
Providence, RI
Calendar of Events
May 8-12, 2017
Keystone Symposia Conference - Angiogenesis and Vascular Disease
May 19-20, 2017
The 9th Charleston Symposium on Vascular Anomalies
May 29 - June 1, 2017
ESM/EVBO 2017 Meeting Geneva
June 8-10, 2017
Lymphatic Forum 2017
June 8-11, 2017
12th HHT International Scientific Conference
July 8-13, 2017
International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2017 Congress
July 24-27, 2017
Vasculata 2017
Aug. 11-14, 2017
2017 APS Conference: Cardiovascular Aging, New Frontiers and Old Friends
Oct. 15-19, 2017
Vascular Biology 2017
June 4-7, 2018
20th International Vascular Biology Meeting
Advocating for Science
Contacting Your Representatives Can Make a Difference for Science
If you are a U.S. citizen, let your U.S. representatives hear from you and encourage them to be advocating for science. There are many methods by which to reach out -  from attending meetings or personal visits to congressional offices, to doing something as simple as writing a postcard.  Be sure to reach out to your district and state representatives. Now, in addition to funding the NIH budget and other federal biomedical research budgets, scientists must clearly express how other policies impact scientific collaboration, a key component in the scientific process.

Here are links to organizations that encourage, support and aid science advocates:
Coalition for the Life Sciences
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Research!America

If you are aware  of other groups, please let us know and we will post them in future newsletter issues (send to [email protected]). 
North American Vascular Biology Organization | [email protected] | http://www.navbo.org
18501 Kingshill Road
Germantown, MD 20874-2211