Michelle Bendeck is a Professor and the Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Translational Biology and Engineering Program (TBEP) at the Ted Rogers Center for Heart Research. She obtained her B.Sc (Hons) in Physiology at the University of Western Ontario, and her Ph.D. in Cellular and Experimental Pathology at the University of Toronto. She completed postdoctoral research at the University of Washington in the department of Pathology.

 

Dr. Bendeck is recognized for her work on matrix biology in cardiovascular disease. She studies the roles of collagens, the novel discoidin-domain receptors (DDRs), cadherins and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in mediating cellular responses during atherosclerosis and heart failure. In addition, she is developing biomaterials for drug delivery and designing microfluidic systems to perform high-throughput assays to test drugs to antagonize these molecular players.

    

Dr. Bendeck was the recipient of a Career Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and she holds research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health (USA), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

We obviously had some camera shy attendees; this year's Vasculata was attended by 117 students!  More pictures are available at www.navbo.org/events/vasculata-2017

With the help of a grant from the NHLBI, nineteen individuals received funding to attend - eleven scholarships and eight travel awards.  In addition, there were 54 posters presented on Monday afternoon; workshops were held on Tuesday and Wednesday and a group dinner was held on Wednesday evening with a very special guest speaker, Mary Woolley from Research!America.  Ms. Woolley's presentation was entitled, "Your Role in Changing Hearts and Minds for Science."  See below for more information about her presentation and click here to review her  slides.

Congratulations and much appreciation to the organizers: Kishore Wary, Asrar Malik and Jan Kitajewski at the University of Illinois, Chicago; co-organizers: Dolly Mehta and Jalees Rehman, also at UIC and Tsutomu Kume and William Muller at Northwestern University.  A special thanks to the Department of Pharmacology staff, especially Aileen Baker and Sarah Wotaszak.   

Thanks to our sponsors:  the Department of Pharmacology, UIC, the UIC College of Medicine, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UIC and our corporate sponsors:  Cell Biologics and VisualSonics

Hope to see you next year at Vasculata 2018 in St. Louis, MO!!! 

NAVBO has had a longstanding interest in advocacy for biomedical research, in part via networking opportunities with other organizations. As part of VASCULATA 2017, we were delighted that Research!America's founding President and current CEO Mary Woolley provided a presentation entitled, "Your Role in Changing Hearts and Minds for Science." As background, Research!America is the nation's largest, non-profit grassroots public education and advocacy organization committed to biomedical and health research as a national priority. They were key in lobbying successfully for the doubling of the NIH budget that occurred from 1999-2003.

  

Vasculata participants were delighted to hear an inspiring and informative presentation from Mary that provided a historical perspective of biomedical research advocacy in the United States and presented research methodologies to understand the perceptions of such research among the population. She highlighted the many past successes that have kept the nation's effort in research strong and new trends that are serving to invigorate scientists and citizens to advocate for research, such as the March for Science. Some fascinating points were raised. Chief among them is the fact that polling indicates that despite the high levels of public confidence, scientists are relatively invisible in our society. How do we improve on this situation and advocate for appropriate funding? Mary described the need to get involved, advocate as a private citizen and constituent, and advocate with your institution. An emphasis was put on the need for scientists to reach out to representatives, Senators, and local government officials. She ended by stating that "the most important words a researcher can say and convey are 'I work for you.'" Mary's enthusiasm and commitment came across loud and clear, and participants at Vasculata were informed, engaged, and grateful for her contribution.

To all NAVBO members, know that Research!America is a key partner in our efforts and we should connect with them, please do that at:

www.researchamerica.org/blog

www.facebook.com/researchamerica.org

www.twitter.com/researchamerica

www.youtube.com/researchamerica

Contributed by Jan Kitajewski

Abstract deadline - now August 8
Submit an Abstract - Click Here
(includes extensions for the Springer and Travel Awards)

Early bird discount - August 15
Register Now!

More meeting details at:
http://www.navbo.org/vb2017

ASH will dissolve as a singular enterprise, aligning its leadership, members, and activities with the mission and framework of the AHA. The unified organization will remain committed to funding innovative research, fighting for stronger public health policies, and providing critical tools, education, and information to save and improve lives affected by diseases of the circulatory system.  

Seeks Papers on Select Topics  

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a white paper today offering recommendations for short-term budget action, and the list starts with replacing the current sequestration budget caps with more reasonable (read "higher") budget limits. It speaks volumes when key national thought leaders from both sides of the aisle assert the need for a deal that provides more room for discretionary budget growth. Use this action alert to reinforce their call to action in this regard. 

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.

For more information on public policy affecting the scientific community and ways that you can help, please visit NAVBO's Advocacy page - www.navbo.org/resources/advocate

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 info@navbo.org).