April 5, 2018
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Meetings
  20th IVBM   Helsinki, Finland   June 3-7, 2018
Accepting late-breaking abstracts through May 7! 

 

Vasculata 2018 
St. Louis, MO
July 23 - 26, 2018

Vascular Biology 
Newport, RI 
October 14-18, 2018 
Next webinar is April 5
Corporate Partners
Corporate Members
VB2018 Supporters
VB2018 Exhibitors
Affiliated Journals
What's on the Web?
Trainee Awards
We support our trainee members in attending more than just NAVBO meetings - we have awards for the GRC, IVBM, Lymphatic Forum and World Congress on Microcirculation!

Go to http://www.navbo.org/awards/trainee-awards
Shop at Amazon?   
Help Support NAVBO 
Use this link to shop for everyone and everything
  smile.amazon.com/ch/52-1917956 and Amazon will donate to NAVBO 
Today's Webinar
Don't miss today's webinar at 1:00pm EDT
Sponsored by DMT
- featuring Jessica Wagenseil of Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Wagenseil's presentation entitled, "Elastic fibers and the mechanics of maturing arteries," is scheduled for today, Thursday, April 5 at 1:00pm EDT.  For more information or to register go to http://navbo.org/events/webinars/683-webinar042018.

Next Webinar is May 3
Chris Hughes of the University of California, Irvine, will present a webinar entitled, A Perfused Blood-Brain Barrier on a Chip.  For more information and to register go to: http://www.navbo.org/events/webinars/687-webinar052018
March For Science 2018 
Stand United in Supporting Science
This year's March for Science is only 9 days away - April 14, please plan to participate!

RSVP today to your local March for Science! 
Opportunities for Trainee Members
Get more involved in NAVBO!
The Education Committee is looking for a new member (must be a postdoctoral fellow and a current NAVBO member).  The Education Committee has several projects in the works and our current postdoc members are hardworking and innovative!  Consider joining this vibrant committee that meets monthly via conference call. 

We are currently seeking some social media mavens for the Communications Committee - graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are most welcome to apply!  Must be a trainee member in good standing.  In addition to social media, this committee oversees the newsletter, the web site and possibly other new ways to communicate to our members.    Consider joining this committee as we seek to strengthen the vascular biology community network.

The Membership Committee is also seeking two more postdocs to participate on this committee which helps to recruit, retain and engage new members. 

To submit an application for any of these committees, go to: www.navbo.org/cte-application
Register for Vasculata and Vascular Biology
Register for Vascular Biology and Vasculata 
Registration is now open for our annual meeting, Vascular Biology (October 14-18 in Newport, RI).  Go to www.navbo.org/vb2018

You can also register now for Vasculata 2018 (July 23-26, St. Louis, MO).  Go to www.navbo.org/vasculata.
Remember workshops fill up quickly, so register soon!

You can also submit an abstract for either meeting. Go to the appropriate meeting web site.
Vascular Calcification - Call for Papers
NAVBO Research Topic on Vascular Calcification 
NAVBO has joined with Frontiers, publishers of Frontiers In Cardiovascular Medicine,and co-editors Dwight Towler, UT Southwestern Medical Center and Yabing Chen, University of Alabama, to assemble a collection of papers in the research topic of Vascular Calcification.

Please consider submitting a manuscript to the journal under this topic.  Information can be found at https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/7775/vascular-calcification
Spotlight on Trainees
Healthcare Options for Graduate Students
Many academic institutions offer subsidized health insurance plans to students at affordable rates. Alternatively, students can consult the website for the Affordable Care Act, which offers guidance on the process by which grad students can seek health insurance coverage during those often lean times as a trainee and before securing full-time employment. Although the ACA has undergone changes within the last year, students not exceeding 26 years old have the option of retaining coverage under parental plans and can apply individually when aging off. Healthcare.gov advises that students shop for insurance in the state in which they are studying, where they are more likely to find plans that better align with their needs.
Lab of the Month
The Lab of Dr. Kazuyo Kegan
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Kazuyo Kegan, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, at Johns Hopkins University. Find out more about Dr. Kegan and her lab at http://www.navbo.org/membership/members-labs/705-lab042018
Lessons Learned
Becoming an Independent Scientist
My name is Kazuyo Kegan. I have been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, since 2012. I recently received my first NIH R01 grant, which just started in December 2017.
 
Our institution traditionally provides no direct salary support for non-clinical faculty. Thus, the transition from junior faculty to partial dependence on mentor-initiated funding, to a combination of mentor and independent support, to finally being fully independently funded has been extremely challenging. Before reaching this point, I had to obtain multiple small internal and external funding awards. I am still in the process of building a new lab, but I hope I can share a few ideas that might be helpful and important for writing grants and becoming an independent scientist.

It took a little while for me to understand the fundamental differences between writing a manuscript and writing a grant. When writing a manuscript, we try to describe things clearly, logically, and professionally. There is actually no room to express enthusiasm in it. On the contrary, I have learned that the key to writing a successful grant is to imbed your enthusiasm clearly into your writing. Besides making the science clear, you need to convince the reviewers that your grant is better and more novel, innovative, and feasible than any of the other applications. Here are several steps I have taken to obtain successful grants.

1. Start and plan early: In the first year after my promotion, I was advised that I should apply for an R01 grant at almost every cycle. I did try to do this during the first 2 years without success. Every 4 months, I would be at the bench for 2 months to move my research forward (I had no people to work on my project), generate preliminary data for the grant during the third month, and spend the fourth month writing and submitting a grant. With this schedule, I was not so productive in publication or in obtaining grants.  Your productivity is one of the important factors the reviewers want to see for successful grants. I also learned that taking time to obtain strong preliminary data to support the overall hypothesis is the key to creating successful grants. continue reading...

If you would like to share your lessons learned as you moved into your role as an independent investigator, send your submission to editor@navbo.org .
Member News
Welcome to our New Members:
Isola Brown, University of Virginia
Kerrie Collins, University of Illinois at Chicago
Melanie Jannaway, University of South Florida
Kim Pin Yeo, National University of Singapore

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

PTEN deficiency promotes pathological vascular remodeling of human coronary arteries
Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight
Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is an essential regulator of the differentiated vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype.  Read more

 

Extracellular bone morphogenetic protein modulator BMPER and twisted gastrulation homolog 1 preserve arterial-venous specification in zebrafish blood vessel development and regulate Notch signaling in endothelial cells
The FEBS Journal
The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway plays a central role during vasculature development. Mutations or dysregulation of the BMP pathway members have been linked to arteriovenous malformations.  Read more

 

Elastin-driven genetic diseases
Matrix Biology
Elastic fibers provide recoil to tissues that undergo repeated deformation, such as blood vessels, lungs and skin.  Read more

 

Minoxidil improves vascular compliance, restores cerebral blood flow and alters extracellular matrix gene expression in a model of chronic vascular stiffness
American Journal of Physiology Heart and Circulatory Physiology
Increased vascular stiffness correlates with higher risk of cardiovascular complications in aging adults.  Read more

 

Spatiotemporal Multi-omics Mapping Generates a Molecular Atlas of the Aortic Valve and Reveals Networks Driving Disease
Circulation
Background -No pharmacological therapy exists for calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD), which confers a dismal prognosis without invasive valve replacement.  Read more

Industry News
Welcome News on Federal Funding for Research
The US Congress has completed its work on a spending plan for the 2018 fiscal year, which began last October. The bill, a $1.3 trillion spending package that largely rejects deep cuts to research agencies proposed by the White House, was signed by President Trump on March 23, 2018. Analysis by AAAS indicates that the increases in research spending are the largest in over ten years. Total R&D spending is estimated to approach $180 billion, an increase of 12.8% compared to the 2017 fiscal year. The NIH will receive a $3 billion (8.3%) increase, including an additional $414 million for Alzheimer's disease research. The NSF expects a $7.8 billion (3.9%) increase.

Machine Learning in the Service of Cardiovascular Health
The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) has entered a partnership with the American Heart Association to examine the potential of machine-learning methods to successfully predict, prevent, and treat cardiovascular diseases. AHA's Precision Medicine Platform, a cloud-based data system containing cardiovascular health-related data from DCRI, private pharma, and human healthcare networks, will form the universe to be explored to improve management, access, and secondary analyses of clinical information. The two partnering organizations also will sponsor research to create new machine learning tools. 

Research Data Sharing: Challenges and Opportunities
Scientific publishing giant Springer Nature has analyzed results of a major survey of researchers about the disposition of their research data. Based on responses from nearly 8,000 scientists, Springer Nature reports that data sharing associated with published works is commonplace and that researchers are interested in making their data more readily "discoverable." A whitepaper dissecting the results of the survey addresses numerous hurdles that researchers encounter in the data-sharing process. Findings are reported globally, as well as broken down to region, subject matter, and other investigator demographic features.
Job Postings
Job Title
Company
Location
OMRF
Oklahoma City, OK
Postdoctoral Position to Investigate Vascular Anomalies
Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Cincinnati, OH
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Assistant or Associate Professor
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, MA
University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine
Tampa, FL
Postdoctoral Research
University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine
Tampa, FL
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh,PA
Post doc position in Mitochondrial and Vascular biology
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
St. Petersburg, FL
Calendar of Events
April 8 - 12, 2018
Keystone Symposia - Organs- and Tissues-on-Chips
April 14 - 15, 2018
HHT Southeast Regional Conference
May 31 - June 1, 2018
22nd International Workshop on Vascular Anomalies
June 3 - 7, 2018
20th International Vascular Biology Meeting
June 9 - 12, 2018
XVIII International Symposium on Atherosclerosis
July 14 - 15, 2018
Endothelial Cell Phenotypes in Health and Disease (GRS)
July 15 - 20, 2018
Endothelial Cell Phenotypes in Health and Disease (GRC)
July 18 - 21, 2018
ISTH SSC 2018 Meeting
Sept. 9 - 13, 2018
11th World Congress of Microcirculation (WCM2018)
North American Vascular Biology Organization | bernadette@navbo.org | http://www.navbo.org
18501 Kingshill Road
Germantown, MD 20874-2211