January 10, 2019
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Vascular Biology 
Monterey, CA  
October 27-31, 2019

Lymphatic Forum 2019
Austin, TX
May 31 - June 1, 2019

Vasculata 2019
Medical College of Wisconsin
July 13 - 18, 2019

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Medical Center
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Affiliated Journals
Partner Network Advantage - New Job Board Feature
Why post your job on NAVBO's career center rather than going directly to the larger job networks?
Pricing on the mass job boards can vary, but to get a job noticed you typically have to sponsor it for $5 - $10 per day, which can add up quickly especially since you also pay for each click the job gets. When you add it all together, you could be spending up to $45 per day on your job posting. But, when posting a job on NAVBO's career center, you simply pay a flat fee! The Premium package includes our Exclusive Extended Partner Network - which means the jobs are broadcast to sites like ZipRecruiter and Jobs2Careers and more for a flat fee.
 
With special member pricing, you can post a job for as low as $300 with this Partner Network. You never pay for each click, just the flat fee on the NAVBO career center. In addition, the Premium package includes a 60-day job posting making it a great value. The Premium packages also offer features like having your company's logo featured on the career center homepage, having your job appear first in search results, and more.
 
Post your open position now at www.navbo.org/jobs! 
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NAVBO Privacy Policy
Your data privacy and security are important to NAVBO. To that end, we have updated our privacy policy to reflect recent privacy and security regulation implementations and changes. Please review our policy as time permits so you have a complete understanding of the data we have, why we have it, and how we use it.
 
Part of the updates relate directly to the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that went into place May 25.   The GDPR seeks to improve the transparency of data usage and give end users more control over their own data. We believe these changes are important and will be compliant with the GDPR regulations.
 
Contact NAVBO if you have any questions or to change your communication preferences.
 
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Don't Miss Today's Webinar with Josh Hutcheson
Cardiovascular mechanics and extracellular vesicles
Join us today - January 10 - at 1:00pm EST for a webinar with Josh Hutcheson of the Florida International University.  Dr. Hutcheson's presentation will discuss the role of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) mechanics and mechanotransduction in the formation of calcifying extracellular vesicles (EVs), which nucleate mineral in the vascular wall.

For more details and to register go to: http://www.navbo.org/events/webinars/758-web012019


NAVBO Webinars are free for current NAVBO Members.
Celebrating 25 Years!
Please help celebrate NAVBO's 25th Anniversary by sharing your own perspective of the growth of our organization, through its membership and their science!

We will highlight member-provided testimonials at the annual meeting in Oct 2019 and throughout the year (in the newsletter, YouTube, etc.)

Then and Now!
Where were you in 1994?  Had you even thought about the world of vascular biology yet?  Let us see the transformation, we want to share images from 1994 and compare them to those from 2019.
Members
- share personal photos.  Maybe you were a kid in a science fair in 1994 and now you're running your own lab!  Or a graduate student and now you're the head of a department
Technology
- if you have images from your 1994 studies, show us how technology has improved to allow you to see vessels, tissue and cells with a whole new perspective. 
Scope
- what were  you working on in 1994?  How has your studies and focus evolved?  Share some of your discoveries that were a turning point for you and possibly for the field of vascular biology.  These stories can be shared in a podcast or short video.

Send your images and/or stories to 25years@navbo.org.
Getting to Know More NAVBO Members
Meet Thanh Theresa Dinh
Theresa is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University.  She presented her work, Transcriptional regulation of endothelial cell identify and mucosal vascular addressin expression by nuclear orphan receptor COUP-TFII heterodimerization with NKX2.3, in the What Makes Postcapillary Venules Special? session at Vascular Biology 2018.  She received a Travel Award in the Vascular Inflammation Workshop at Vascular Biology 2018 (pictured here with workshop co-organizers: Masanori Aikawa and Bill Muller).
 
Theresa recently spoke with Membership Committee Member, Mary Wallingford of Tufts Medical Center.
 
How did you first learn about NAVBO?   I first learned about NAVBO while looking for pertinent conferences in my field.
 
 
Tell us about the research you presented?   I am looking at the role of two transcription factors and how they act on the molecular level to modulate high endothelial cell identity, a specialized type of EC that is imperative for leukocyte trafficking.  
 
How did your mentor facilitate this work?  
My mentor supports me through guidance of my research, monetary assistance and is a sound board of my ideas and hypothesis.  
 
What was your favorite event at the meeting?  
The poster session.  
 
Did you meet any people at the meeting who influence your research?  
Yes, I was able to hear/meet Paul Kubes, Courtney Griffin, Karen Hirschi and William Muller. Courtney, especially, was able to give me insight on the academic process and being a mother while juggling her career.  
 
What benefits did the travel award have for you?  
It allowed me to attend the conference and listen to leaders of the field speak.In addition, I was able to to present my research and get direct feedback on my work. All things I would not have been able to do had I not gotten the travel award.  
 
What benefits can a trainee expect from attending NAVBO?  
The opportunity to network and develop collaborations with other members in the field.  
 
What future goals do you have for your work?  
To publish in a high impact journal and obtain a faculty position!  
 
How can NAVBO help you achieve these goals?  
To provide more networking opportunities.
Meet Tvisha Misra
Tvisha Misra
Tvisha is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology at SickKids in Toronto.  Tvisha presented her talk in the Signaling workshop ( pictured here with workshop co-organizers Ondine Cleaver and Bill Sessa).  Her presentation, Understanding the role of CCM3 in endothelial development and disease, was included in the
session on Blood Vessel Morphogenesis and Vascular Malformations.
 
Tvisha recently spoke with Mary Wallingford of the NAVBO Membership Committee.
 
How did you first learn about NAVBO?
I learned about NAVBO from word of mouth from colleagues and also from my mentor who encouraged me to attend and present my work and learn more about the field.
 
Tell us about the research you presented?
In the Scott lab I am looking at the role of ccm3in early development and disease. Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM) are focal dilations in the cerebral vasculature leading to haemorrhaging, strokes and in extreme cases death. Of the three proteins associated with CCMs, CCM1/2/3, loss of CCM3, a highly conserved scaffold protein, leads to the most severe form of the disease. Though various models have been used to study endpoint vascular defects, not much is known about the earliest cellular events which eventually lead to CCMs. We use the zebrafish as a vertebrate model to understand the role of Ccm3 in early vascular development and disease progression. I used CRISPR/CAS9 to generate and characterise vascular defects in ccm3mutant models. A lot of my work focuses on time lapse imaging of developing blood vessels in early embryos to characterise when and how the vascular defects arise. Ccm3 has no known enzymatic activity and is proposed to function as a scaffold protein. Our collaborators in the Gingras lab (author list from the abstract), conducted BioID to find interaction partners (the 'interactome') of Ccm3. We selected the strongest candidates to probe their role in vascular development through generating CRISPR/CAS9 mutants. I am, thus, establishing a model to study Ccm3 function in vivo over time, and, probing Ccm3 function and mechanism of action through understanding the role of its interaction partners in vascular development. 
 
How did your mentor facilitate this work?
Dr. Scott has always been very supportive of my choice of project and the methods I use to address my questions. He has always encouraged me to develop the projects in directions where my own interests lie and is always available for scientific input. He has also always encouraged me to attend various conferences and present my work to get as much exposure in the community as I want.
 
What was your favorite event at the meeting?
For me it was the lunch with PIs on day two. Many times we do not get to interact with people who are not directly related to our own fields especially if we are presenters (posters give a bit more one on one interaction time, I suppose), and most interactions are limited to the science we present. An event like this gave us the chance to talk not just about our research and results, but future prospects in academia and the individual PIs' philosophies as relates to various scientific careers and possibilities. As trainees looking to stay in an academic research environment, such input is very useful. All the trainees I talked to also really enjoyed the lunch and we were hoping that we could have more such events in the future.
 
Did you meet any people at the meeting who influence your research?
Absolutely. Interestingly, during my journey from the airport to the resort I was assigned to a car with a group leader whose recent work relates directly with my current project and part of what I presented at the conference and I had a wonderful time discussing my results with him. Just after my talk I was approached by another group leader who talked in length to me about my work and gave his input on various aspects of my project. It was great to have these one on one discussions with various experts in the field.
 
What benefits did the travel award have for you?
As a postdoctoral fellow in my third year, I look for every opportunity to present my work and learn as much about the field as possible. Travel awards like these allow me to attend more such meetings than the usual limited funding would allow. Of course, such awards also contribute towards building my scientific portfolio for my future.
 
What benefits can a trainee expect from attending NAVBO and how can NAVBO help you achieve these goals??  
Smaller, more specialized conferences, such as NAVBO, give trainees like us the opportunity to communicate with the leaders of our fields in a closer setting than what one experiences at bigger meetings. I really enjoyed talking to some members who had been attending the conference for many years and seeing the sense of community that has built up in that time. Everyone I talked to was very positive about their experiences and since I am interested in pursuing a career in basic research in an academic environment I look forward to attending more NAVBO conferences in the coming years.
 
What future goals do you have for your work?
My interest in the vascular system started with my work with drosophila tracheal development during my doctoral work, which I translated to studying the vascular system in fish for my postdoctoral project. I am fascinated by the mechanisms that control vascular development and maintenance of proper cardio-vascular function, and the zebrafish, for me, provides a great model to study this using advanced genetic and microscopy techniques. I hope to continue to conduct such research in an academic environment in the future as well.

The interviews above as well as previous interviews are available on our web site at: http://www.navbo.org/membership/spotlight-awardees. You can find Dr. Misra's VB2018 abstract there as well.
Lessons Learned
Dr. Yun Fang
I started my independent research program in the Department of Medicine, Biological Sciences Division, at The University of Chicago in Nov, 2012. Looking back, it is one of the most challenging, intriguing, and rewarding tasks I have ever undertaken and I would like to use this exciting opportunity to share a few lessons I learned in the past few years.
 
Be creative, not competitive.
"Be creative but not competitive" is our lab motto. It is quite exciting (I feel) to live in the golden age of biomedical research since there are unprecedented advancements of new approaches and techniques which allow us to pursue questions previously unanswerable and to develop new therapies applying these new concepts. One thing I often share with my lab members is that most of the techniques routinely used in my lab nowadays such as ATAC-seq, Hi-C, CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, and single-cell sequencing, were not even invented when I was a postdoctoral fellow. Finding creative ways to identify new questions and novel solutions are always recommended and encouraged in my lab. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain a fine balance between being creative and focused for a junior faculty who not only needs to move the chosen field forward but also show continuous research productivity.
 
Building a collegial and feedback-seeking environment for your trainees who share your scientific vision.
One thing I am striving for is to create an intellectually-challenging but supportive environment for a trainee to pursue his/her (and my) scientific interests. It is tempting for a junior faculty to quickly hire personnel, but I cannot stress enough the importance to find lab members who share your scientific vision. Knowing it is difficult to recruit bright postdocs as a junior faculty, I started actively searching for candidates via any given channels (meetings, personal connections...etc.) six months before my lab was open. I was fortunate to recruit two outstanding postdocs who were the core members of my program for the first two years. The priority for my first six months at the University of Chicago was to work closely with them in the lab, which turned out to be a very effective and productive way to establish a brand-new research program. These two postdocs then became the cornerstone of my lab to train members who joined later. Nevertheless, I learned that everyone is different and having management styles tailored to lab individuals is key for me to keep effective communication with them. When I am in the office and not on a call, my door is always open to encourage conversations. The first goal I set since the beginning is to build and cultivate a collegial and feedback seeking/giving work place for the lab members to brainstorm research ideas and receive constructive feedbacks. I am very proud that my lab members now teach me as much, if not more, as I teach them through our daily conversations and weekly meetings.
 
Finding collaborators who have mutual interests with you and are mutually benefited from the collaboration.
One thing that keeps me extremely excited about the academic work is the opportunities to work with people with different expertise to tackle problem-oriented instead of discipline-oriented questions. We are privileged to have a cohort of wonderful collaborators who unselfishly share their expertise, allowing us to explore uncharted territory related to our research questions. We found that fruitful collaborations are typically built on mutual trust, mutual interests, and mutual benefits of the collaborators. Our scientific scope has been significantly deepened and broadened by actively seeking collaborations across disciplines.
 
Communicating your scientific passion effectively with your family members, students, lab members, colleagues, and reviewers.
I firmly believe one requisite for a productive research career is to effectively communicate with others your scientific projects of choice. My wife is not a scientist, but by speaking often to her about my research projects, she understands my passion for the work and is supportive of my career. Sharing my scientific passion to the trainees in the lab and students in the classroom may breed and foster their own enthusiasm in science. Passionate discussions on research projects, either mine or my peers', always motivate me to revisit our scientific hypotheses and experimental approaches. Moreover, manuscript submissions and grant applications are also excellent ways to receive honest and constructive feedbacks from your peers, although rejections are common. I truly believe that the current review system, although not perfect, is still an effective way to exchange and stimulate candid and often time, constructive scientific discussions.  
 
Lab of the Month
The Lab of Dr. Yun Fang
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Yun Fang, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine  at The University of Chicago. Find out more about Dr. Fang and his lab at http://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/765-lab012019 
Spotlight on Trainees
Confounding consequences of student evaluation of instructors
Institutions of higher education typically use surveys of teaching effectiveness as one component in determining whether faculty members remain employed or get promoted.  Actions driven by results of such surveys, however, may eventually have insidious effects on the quality of teaching: students are prone to give higher evaluation scores to instructors who challenge them less and grade them more leniently.  When grade inflation ensues, academic standards can decline, with the consequence that students gain less for their ever-increasing tuition dollar.  Recent research into these trends, and their uneven occurrence internationally, is reviewed in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Member News
Welcome to our New Members:
Racheal Akwii, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Luis Gonzalez, Yale School of Medicine

If you have news to share with your colleagues, send it to membership@navbo.org.
 Recent Publications by NAVBO Members

Induction of Brain Arteriovenous Malformation Through CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Somatic Alk1 Gene Mutations in Adult Mice
Translational Stroke Research
Brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM) is an important risk factor for intracranial hemorrhage. The pathogenesis of bAVM has not been fully understood.  Read more

Industry News
Federal government shutdown throws a wrench into the wheels of scientific progress
Writing in The Washington Post, Ben Guarino and colleagues describe the widespread negative impact the ongoing government shutdown is having on both the conduct of research and sharing of research findings.  The headquarters of NSF is closed, and some 1,400 NSF employees are reportedly on furlough.  Researchers fear that an extended closure of NSF would have a massive effect on research, given the scale of total NSF funding.  Now that the shutdown has persisted into 2019, NSF grant review panels will likely be canceled and rescheduled, disrupting the flow of science. Moreover, NSF does not distribute grant payments to scientists during a shutdown.
 
Celebrating women in science
Science writer and blogger Samantha Jones has begun making good on her new year's resolution to bring the accomplishments of notable women scientists - two per week throughout 2019 - to the attention of her readers.  Her inaugural entry showcases the work of Jen Heemstra, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Emory University, and Malika Jeffries-EL, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science at Boston University.  Perhaps we will see among those featured some of NAVBO's female scientists, so well represented in the organization's leadership and vascular researchers.

Call for applications to support collaborative research in the US and China
The NIH has posted information about the US-China Program for Biomedical Collaborative Research, which seeks to stimulate collaboration between Chinese and American researchers in the areas of cancer, environmental health, heart disease, blood disease, diseases of the eye and visual system, mental health, and neurological disorders.  The program, described in detail under RFA-CA-19-009, invites partnering US and Chinese investigators to work jointly to prepare and submit identical applications to the NIH and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, respectively.
Job Postings
Calendar of Events
April 3 - 6, 2019
Blood Brain Barrier
April 11 - 13, 2019
11th Congress of the Vascular Access Society
May 30 - June 1, 2019
Lymphatic Forum 2019
July 6 - 10, 2019
International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis Congress 2019
July 15-18, 2019
Oct. 27 - 31, 2019
Vascular Biology 2019
Sept. 9 - 12, 2020
IVBM 2020
North American Vascular Biology Organization | bernadette@navbo.org | http://www.navbo.org
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