More than thirty international experts from all fields of cardiovascular research will gather in San Diego on February 9 and 10, 2008 to share the latest advances in the fields of cellular therapy and genomics in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Presented by the International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research (ISCTR), the two-day world symposium will take place at the Hotel Del Coronado. A free question and answer forum will be offered to the public on Sunday, February 10, from 2:00-4:00 pm.
“This event is designed to offer a global perspective on current advancements in treating cardiovascular disease, especially at the cellular level,” said Anthony DeMaria, M.D., director of the UCSD Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center and co-director for ISCTR. “In addition to the new information that will be transmitted, we hope to come to consensus positions about the design of clinical trials in cell therapy.”
The weekend symposium will emphasize the results of clinical trials for angiogenosis (blood vessel formation) and myogenosis (muscle development) for the treatment of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stable angina. Topics will include the emerging strengths of genetics and genomics and new technologies for molecular imaging. The Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research will be introduced to the medical community by Nabil Dib, M.D., journal editor, co-director of ISCTR, and Director of Clinical Cardiovascular Cell Therapy at UCSD Medical Center.
“The speakers are the world leaders in the field of cell therapy, primarily from a clinical research standpoint,” said DeMaria. “Dr. Philippe Menasche from France is the leading authority on skeletal myoblasts, Dr. Helmut Drexler from Germany has done the largest study on bone marrow derived stem cells, and Dr. Doris Taylor is the individual who just grew an entire new rat heart in a lab. It is truly an all star cast.”
UC San Diego faculty speaking at this event and their topics include Larry Goldstein, Ph.D., Director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program, “Ethical benchmarks for early stage stem cell clinical trials”; Gregory Feld, M.D., Director of the UCSD Cardiac Electrophysiology Program, “Electrophysiological aspect of cell transplantation”; Barry H. Greenberg, M.D., Director of the UCSD Advanced Heart Failure Treatment Program, “Gene transfer therapy”; and Kirk U. Knowlton, M.D., Chief of Cardiology at UCSD Medical Center, “Interactions between genetic and acquired causes of cardiomyopathy.”
The mission of ISCTR, an independent organization representing physicians worldwide, is to provide an environment for collaboration and guidance among basic and clinical scientists. ISCTR is committed to making the expanding body of research and clinical trials available to basic scientists and clinicians to expedite scientific discoveries into clinical application.
The weekend event is sponsored by University of California, San Diego Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, a member of Catholic Healthcare West. The UCSD School of Medicine, department of continuing medical education, is providing 11.25 credits for attendance.
The media and general public are welcome to attend the discussion session on February 10 from 2:00-4:00 pm. The forum will educate participants with up-to-date information on adult stem cell therapy for cardiovascular disease, the future of personalized medicine, and genomics in early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. To attend the free public forum, visit www.isctr.org.
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Media Contact: Jackie Carr, 619-543-6163, jcarr@ucsd.edu