Dear NAVBO Community,

 

The spring of 2020 in the United States has brought us extraordinary challenges and, for some, unimaginable hardship. It has been a time like no other in many of our lifetimes. On top of a pandemic that has now killed over 110K Americans and forced us to quickly shutter our labs, racial injustice has once again reared its head. The unprecedented difficulty of these times has been further exacerbated by stark economic uncertainty and political upheaval. I want to take a moment to tell you that I, personally and the entirety of NAVBO are with you in this time, and we share your pain.

 

These last few weeks have witnessed the senseless and brutal deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Armaud Arbery, once again forcing the racism and intolerance that has long plagued our country into the light. As the news unfolded these last few weeks, we all sat watching in horror and disbelief, calling friends with concern, and trying to make sense of it all . These tragedies have brought the realities that the African American community faces every day into our collective consciousness. The fear of reaching for a wallet during a simple traffic stop, or the uncertainty of calling the police to one's home or workplace for help. No American should live in fear. The very fact that a significant number of us do, means that we need to acknowledge it, and we need to change it. I am personally angered and saddened by all I have witnessed and learned. I am deeply distressed to realize how persistent and pervasive this problem continues to be. Like so many others, I had thought (or perhaps more accurately hoped) that systemic racism in our society was on the decline. But clearly it is not. We can no longer keep our heads buried in the sand or be complicit in the subjugation of an entire race. I am resolved to take concrete action to make sure this stops now. Our generation has the power to chart its own course and finally make needed, significant and long-lasting changes.

 

I joined NAVBO some 20 years ago as a trainee because I felt it was a welcoming and diverse society whose members were united by their common scientific interests and goals to better the human condition. That mission has been unwavering. NAVBO has always strived to support the science and scientists whose passion it is to understand vascular biology, regardless of color, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, or religious belief. I want to reaffirm to you this fundamental commitment. I want to tell every one of our members that the strength of NAVBO is YOU. It is rooted in our diversity, our openness and our determination to advance science.

 

However, we recognize that our efforts, as a nation and likely as a society, have been woefully inadequate and we must all take steps to address the lack of diversity in our community. With the goal of promoting and sustaining greater diversity in NAVBO and the scientific community, we have created a NAVBO Diversity committee, which will identify and outline next steps.

NAVBO remains a society that firmly believes in the worth of every individual. Equal treatment and representation are not only basic human rights, but also essential for the training and education of our society and further scientific advancement. NAVBO unequivocally stands with the Black community. Black lives DO matter. Racism and hate have no place in our society, in science, or anywhere. Please know this, and know that we are here to support you, and to learn constructive ways to combat all forms of injustice. We encourage all members of our organization to contact us to relay your thoughts, ideas, anger, disappointment, etc. It is only through open public discourse and education that we can begin to make real change.

 

With you,  

Ondine Cleaver

NAVBO President 2019-2020

Because the meeting is virtual this year, we have discounted the registration fees significantly.  Your entire lab can afford to participate! 
Regular members* will pay only $100 through August 15

Trainee members* will pay only $75 through August 15

Non-members will pay only $250 through August 15

* Also includes members from our guest societies:

The Microcirculatory Society

The American Society for Investigative Pathology

Plans are still underway for the program within this new format, but all speakers have agreed to participate, and the existing sessions will all take place.

We are now accepting abstracts for Vascular Biology 2020!  The meeting features our Biology of Signaling in the Cardiovascular System and Vascular  Inflammation Workshops and a neurovascular cross-over theme.  Go to https://www.navbo.org/vb2020 for the program. 

 

Take advantage of this opportunity to showcase your work for would be employers.  Join Cody on our web site!   

We have heard from a number of people that both graduation ceremonies and thesis presentations have been cancelled and/or reformatted for remote participation.  Coupled with the temporary halt in in-person conferences, this situation may be making it more challenging for trainees to network, promote their science, and search for their next position.  To address this, NAVBO will offer online opportunities for our trainee members.

The new Emerging Scientists Series will offer trainees the opportunity to showcase their thesis research in short research highlight talks.  This new resource will serve as a place for trainees to share their work with employers that are hiring and searching for a new recruit with vascular biology research experience.   

 

If you are a trainee that has just defended your thesis and are interested in this opportunity, please contact [email protected] 

 

Calling all Tweeters, Instagrammers, those that are LinkedIn and FaceBooking!  Also, some web site savvy people!

We can't take you camping, but this virtual "camp" will feature lectures covering basic concepts in Development, Signaling, Bioengineering/Matrix Biology and Inflammation.  Students and other trainees should plan to join us!

 

Three-hour sessions will be held on Monday and Wednesday afternoons (1:00pm eastern time) and will include three lectures, plus presentations by abstract authors.    

 

Registration information can be found here:
https://www.navbo.org/events/summer-camp 

 

Talks will be presented by:

*Masanoria Aikawa, Brigham and Women's Hospital

*Michelle Bendeck, University of Toronto

*Ondine Cleaver, UT Southwestern Medical Center

*Anne Eichmann, Yale University

Gabriele Fredman, Albany Medical College

Zorina Galis, NHLBI/NIH  

*Courtney Griffin, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation 

Karen Hirschi, Yale School of Medicine
Lucy Liaw, Maine Medical College
*Bill Muller, Northwestern University 

*Stefania Nicoli, Yale University

*Wayne Orr, LSU Health Science Center in Shreveport 

Amber Stratman, Washington University in St. Louis

Mary Wallingford, Tufts Medical Center
Hiromi Yanagisawa, University of Tsukuba, Japan 

 

*indicates organizers   

 

Registration is free!!  Hope you can join us!

Transitioning to the New Normal: Leaders' Lessons on Reopening Labs and Doing Science in a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic forced research in most academic labs throughout the world to grind to a halt over the past three months. Now, as we emerge from quarantines and labs gradually reopen, PIs and trainees are learning to navigate largely uncharted paths of doing science in a pandemic. How do you hire a postdoc who cannot travel to your lab? As a trainee, how do you check out a lab that you can't visit? Without in-person conferences, what opportunities are there to network? How are labs re-opening safely? How do you train new students and staff when physical distancing is required? Can unspent grant funds be carried over?

 

Seven NAVBO Leaders - Michelle Bendeck (University of Toronto), Ondine Cleaver (UT Southwestern), Zorina Galis (NHLBI), William Huckle (Virginia Tech), Bill Muller (Northwestern University), Kristy Red-Horse (Stanford University) and Linda Shapiro (University of Connecticut) - recently participated in an online discussion to share their experiences and advice on these topics and more. From virtual lab tours to training via Facetime to resources for online networking (including the NAVBO Emerging Scientist Series and NAVBO Happy Hours*), their Leaders' Lessons on transitioning to the new normal can be watched here.

 

* Happy Hours are Friday's at 5:00pm ET 

The Lab of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch, who is a Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Find out more about Dr. Rabinovitch's lab at https://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/931-lab062020.

Extracellular Vesicles Enhance Remodeling of Cell-Free Silk Vascular Scaffolds in Rat Aortae  

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Vascular tissue engineering (VTE) is aimed at developing regenerative vascular grafts to restore tissue function by bypassing or replacing defective arterial segments with tubular biodegradable scaffolds. Read more

Bioresorbable silk grafts for small diameter vascular tissue engineering applications: In vitro and in vivo functional analysis 

Acta Biomaterialia

The success of tissue-engineered vascular graft (TEVG) predominantly relies on the selection of a suitable biomaterial and graft design. Natural biopolymer silk has shown great promise for various tissue-engineering applications. Read more

CYP17A1 deficient XY mice display susceptibility to atherosclerosis, altered lipidomic profile and atypical sex development 

Scientific Reports

CYP17A1 is a cytochrome P450 enzyme with 17-alpha-hydroxylase and C17,20-lyase activities. CYP17A1 genetic variants are associated with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and visceral and subcutaneous fat distribution; however, the underlying pathological mechanisms remain unknown. Read more

Deficiency of MFSD7c results in microcephaly-associated vasculopathy in Fowler syndrome 

Journal of Clinical Investigation

Several missense mutations in the orphan transporter FLVCR2 have been reported in Fowler syndrome. Affected subjects exhibit signs of severe neurological defects. We identified the mouse ortholog Mfsd7c as a gene, which is expressed in the blood brain barrier. Read more

What do we know about COVID-19 implications for cardiovascular disease?

Topic Editors: Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel , Masanori Aikawa, Shuyang Zhang , and Andrew F. James  

 

The coronavirus epidemic causes major cardiovascular complications. Underlying mechanisms, however, remain incompletely understood. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine invite you to submit your article on this topic. We consider all types of manuscripts: fundamental basic science reports, translational or clinical studies, review articles and methodology papers.

 

Submit your abstract by May 31, 2020 (or contact Dr. Aikawa) 

Submit your manuscript by August 28, 2020

 

For more information, click here 

 

For questions, please contact Masanori Aikawa   [email protected] or the editorial office [email protected]