FYI from the NHLBI Index

September 2008: Vol. 9, Issue 2
Summaries of Meetings
and Announcements of Upcoming Events

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council's June Meeting

Upcoming NHLBI Workshops and Working Groups

Upcoming 2008 Events

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council's June Meeting

Dr. Nabel welcomed members to the 230th meeting and introduced a new Council member, Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Nabel welcomed Dr. Stephan Bour to the NHLBI as Director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and announced two other changes in personnel: Dr. Chris O'Donnell, Senior Advisor to the NHLBI Director for Genetics and Genomics, will serve concurrently as Scientific Director of the Institute's SNP Health Association Resource (SHARe) Program and Dr. Keith Hoots will join the Institute in January as Director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources. He is currently at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

In March 2008, the NHLBI announced a comprehensive restructuring of its research program in sickle cell disease (SCD) based on recommendations from a Council review of the Institute¡¦s research and training portfolio in SCD. Dr. Nabel and Dr. Susan Shurin, NHLBI Deputy Director, published an editorial in the May 15 issue of Blood, to explain the new directions envisioned for the SCD research program.

Dr. Nabel addressed the recent effort to study the NIH peer review system and determine ways to enhance it. With regard to a related NHLBI policy issue, Dr. Nabel discussed an effort to reduce the burden currently imposed on applicants, reviewers, and NHLBI staff by the large number of amended applications submitted each year.

Ms. Paula Polite, Council member and Manager of Quality Programs, Division of General Services for the City of Memphis, Tennessee, reported on the ninth annual Public Interest Organization (PIO) meeting. She said that the PIO meetings are always a useful opportunity for attendees to learn how their organizations and the NIH can work together for their mutual benefit. Several PIO representatives attended the Council meeting and Dr. Nabel conveyed to them the Institute's pleasure in hosting members of the PIOs each year.

Dr. Susan Old, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, NHLBI, reviewed the history and purpose of the NHLBI Proteomics Initiative. In FY 2002, the Institute established a consortium of 10 highly interactive, multi-disciplinary proteomics centers to enhance and develop innovative proteomic technologies and their applications. Directors of three centers ¡X Dr. Jennifer Van Eyk (Johns Hopkins University), Dr. Garry P. Nolan (Stanford University), and Dr. Thomas Kodadek (University of Texas) ¡X discussed highlights of their research and emphasized that the NHLBI program has revolutionized the field of proteomics.

NHLBI staff presented 18 new initiatives, all of which had been reviewed in May by the Institute¡¦s Board of External Experts. The Council was supportive of the initiatives, but made a number of specific recommendations for consideration prior to their release.

Full minutes of Council meetings and summaries of the initiatives are available.

Upcoming NHLBI Workshops and Working Groups

PIO representatives will be accommodated on a space-available basis and will be responsible for their own travel expenses.

Immunogenetics and Immuno-phenotypes of Chronic Lung Disease: Revealing the Immunological Dysregulations that Characterize Asthma, COPD, and IPF

Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Date: September 25-26, 2008
Contact: Dr. Antonello Punturieri

Upcoming 2008 Events

Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum: PXR 2008 International Meeting

Date: September 19-21
Location: Bethesda, MD

Preeclampsia Foundation: Saving Grace, A Night of Hope

Date: September 20
Location: Washington, DC

American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc.: 2nd Moscow International Conference

Date: September 26-28
Location: Moscow, Russia

HHT Foundation International, Inc.: National Patient and Family Conference

Date: September 26-28
Location: Chicago, IL

Narcolepsy Network, Inc.: 2008 Annual Narcolepsy Network Patient Conference

Date: October 3-5
Location: Milwaukee, WI

American Obesity Association: 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting

Date: October 3-7
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Fanconi Anemia Research foundation, Inc.: Twentieth Annual Scientific Symposium

Date: October 4-7
Location: Eugene, OR

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council: 232nd Meeting

Date: October 21
Location: Bethesda, MD

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