Roche

Key Dates

April 2011
Registration open

Early December 2011
Call for Late Breaking Abstracts

31 January 2012
Early Bird Registration Deadline

17 February 2012
Author registration deadline

25 - 29 March 2012
Symposium dates

Hosted By

The Australian Atherosclerosis Society

Workshop Speakers

ISA2012 Confirmed Workshop Speakers

The following Invited Workshop Speakers will be presenting at ISA2012:

	Professor Hugh Barrett, University of Western Australia, Australia	Hugh Barrett is Professor in Systems Biology in the School of Medicine & Pharmacology and Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Western Australia. He is also an NMHRC Senior Research Fellow. His research focuses on lipoprotein metabolism using stable isotope methodology and compartment models to describe pathways of lipid and apoprotein metabolism using cell culture systems and in vivo animal and human models. Together with experimental data, these models elucidate new pathways of lipid metabolism and the mechanisms by which lifestyle and pharmacotherapy modulate lipid concentrations and reduce cardiovascular disease risk.
	Professor Louise Baur, University of Sydney, Australia	Louise Baur AM is Professor in the Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health and in the School of Public Health, both at Sydney Medical School. She is a consultant paediatrician at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (the main paediatric institution in Sydney), where she is Director of Weight Management Services. Louise has made research contributions in the areas of the prevention of childhood obesity, the antecedents of obesity and the metabolic syndrome in childhood and adolescence, the complications of paediatric overweight and obesity, and the effective management of obesity and related disorders in a variety of clinical settings.
	Professor Alexander Bobik, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Professor Bobik is an Associate Director of the Alfred Baker Medical Unit at the BakerIDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia. His research has focused on pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiovascular disorders with major interests on the role of cytokines and immune cells in vascular remodelling and development and progression of atherosclerosis. His current focus is on regulatory T cells, NKT cells, B cell subtypes and the cytokine BAFF in atherosclerosis.
	Dr Bryan Brewer,Jr. M.D., Cardiovascular Research Institute, USA	H. Bryan Brewer, Jr. MD is Director Washington Cardiovascular Assoicates and Senior Research Consultant at the MedStar Research Institute, in Washington, DC. Dr. Brewer's research led to the elucidation of the first published sequences for the human plasma apolipoproteins, the initial determination of the metabolism of the plasma apolipoproteins in normal and hyperlipidemic individuals, as well as the identification of multiple gene defects leading to the genetic dyslipoproteinemias. Dr. Brewer current focus is the development of methods to raise HDL.Dr. Brewer has published more than 450 original manuscripts and 75 reviews and book chapters .
	A/Professor Andrew Brown, University of New South Wales, Australia	Andrew Brown is an Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. He majored in biochemistry at the University of Sydney where he obtained his PhD in the study of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. He worked at the Cardiovascular Research Unit at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland on smoking and antioxidants, before returning to Sydney to work at The Heart Research Institute on oxysterols in oxidized LDL and macrophage-foam cells. He spent two years in the laboratory of Nobel laureates, Drs Joe Goldstein and Mike Brown, at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas (USA), working on the SREBP-Scap system before taking up his current appointment. His research interests are focussed on understanding the molecular basis of how our cells balance their cholesterol levels.
	Dr Christina Bursill, The Heart Research Institute, Australia	Christina Bursill was recently appointed as the Immunobiology Unit Leader at the Heart Research Institute (HRI). Prior to this she completed her PhD at Adelaide University in lipid metabolism before heading off to Oxford University for five years to undergo a postdoctoral post in the Departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Pathology. Her postdoctoral time triggered her interest in the mechanisms that cause atherosclerosis and in particular the role of small inflammatory proteins called Chemokines. Christina returned to Australia four years ago to work with Professors Kerry-Anne Rye and Philip Barter at the HRI. During this time she has investigated the effects of High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) on chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in mouse models and also in vitro in cell types involved in atherosclerosis such as macrophages, endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. Christina also has an interest in using viral gene transfer techniques to over-express proteins that may attenuate atherosclerosis.
	Associate Professor Laura Calabresi, University of Milano, Italy	Laura Calabresi is Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Milano. She graduated in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology at the University of Milano in 1988 and got a Board certification in Pharmacology at the same University. In 1994 she got the PhD in Experimental Medicine (Arteriosclerosis) at the University of Siena. She was a postdoctoral research fellow of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal. She is author of over 100 publications on peer-reviewed international journals. Her main research interests are: structure/function of lipid transport proteins (apolipoproteins) toward the development of innovative therapeutic approaches for cardiovascular diseases; efficacy and mode of action of lipid-lowering and anti-atherosclerosis drugs; genetics of dyslipidemias; pathophysiology of lipoprotein metabolism.
	Dr Alberico Catapano, University of Milan, Italy	Dr Alberico Catapano currently holds the following positions: Full Professor of Pharmacology, University of Milan, Director of the Laboratory of Lipoprotein Metabolism, Director of the Center for the Study, Prevention and Therapy of Atherosclerosis of the Italian Society for the study of atherosclerosis, at the “Bassini” Hospital& the Director of Center of Epidemiology end Prevention Pharmacology, University of Milan.
	Professor Ian Caterson, University of Sydney, Australia	Ian Caterson is currently Foundation Director of the Boden Institute of Obesity Nutrition & Exercise and Boden Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Sydney. He has held the latter position since 1997. Prior to that he was Senior Staff Specialist and Director of Clinical Endocrinology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He has been president of both the Australian Diabetes Society and the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity & was regional vice-president (Asia-Oceania) for the International Association for the Study of Obesity. He is a recognised expert on obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome and insulin resistance. He is on the management committee of the International Obesity Task Force and has been a an advisor to governments and Who on the issue of obesity.
	Professor Martha Cathcart, Lerner Research Institute, USA	Martha K. Cathcart is Professor of Molecular Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University (CCLCM) where she serves as Director of Graduate Studies. Dr. Cathcart’s research interests have centered on understanding human monocyte/macrophage inflammatory gene expression and response to TH2 cytokines. She also studies the regulation of the monocyte NADPH oxidase and intracellular pathways regulating human monocyte chemotaxis. She has maintained funding from NIH throughout her career and has served on numerous national committees for the NIH, AHA, SLB and NAVBO and is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Lipid Research.
	Professor David Celermajer, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Australia	Professor David Celermajer currently holds the following postions: Scandrett Professor of Cardiology, University of Sydney, Director of Echocardiography and Cardiologist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Clinical Director, The Heart Research Institute, Sydney & the Chairman, Research Committee, National Heart Foundation of Australia. His major academic achievements include: RT Hall Prize for most outstanding contribution by a senior cardiac investigator, awarded by the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, 1998. Eric Susman Medal for most outstanding contribution to any branch of Internal Medicine, award by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 1998. Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research, for outstanding lifetime contribution, 2002. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science since 2006.
	Professor Elliott Chaikof, Harvard Medical School, USA	Elliot L. Chaikof, MD, PhD, is Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Chairman of the Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). He is also a member of the Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He earned BA and MD degrees at the Johns Hopkins University and completed a residency in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital. While a surgical resident, he received a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subsequently completed additional training in Vascular Surgery at the Emory University. Prior to his current position at Harvard Medical School, he held the John E. Skandalakis Chair of Surgery at Emory University, serving as Chief of Vascular Surgery and also served as Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Biomedical Engineering faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Chaikof has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineering, and the American Surgical Association, and has recently served as President of the International Society of Applied Cardiovascular Biology. He has also served on study sections for the NIH (Bioengineering, Technology, and Surgical Sciences and Biomaterials), AHA (National and Southeastern Region), NSF, and JDRF, and has lectured at Gordon and Cold Spring Harbor Conferences, as well as at NIH Symposia on Reparative Medicine.
	Dr Alan Chait, University Lipid & Nutrition, USA	Alan Chait, MD is the Edwin L. Bierman Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, where he is Head of the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition and Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center. Dr. Chait's current research interests include the investigation of the cell biology of atherosclerosis, with an emphasis on the roles of atherogenic lipoproteins, diabetes mellitus and inflammation. An additional area of research relates to how inflammatory signals alter adipocyte biology and lipoprotein composition and function, and how these changes may play a role in atherogenesis.
	Professor Juliana Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong	Bio Coming Soon.
	Professor John Chapman, INSERM, France	In recognition of his original career contributions to the field of “Plasma lipoproteins: Structure, Metabolism and Role in Atherothrombosis”, he was awarded the Doctor of Science degree by the University of London in 2002. The focal points of his research interests have been (i) the structure, metabolism, and biological activities of atherogenic apo.B-containing particle subspecies (VLDL, LDL and Lp(a)), (ii) the relationship of HDL particle heterogeneity to atheroprotective activity in normolipidemia and in atherogenic dyslipidemia, (iii) the role of CETP in the regulation of intravascular lipoprotein metabolism, (iv) the pharmacological modulation of lipoprotein metabolism in atherogenic dyslipidemias and metabolic disease, and (v) the role of monocyte-macrophages and foam cells in the inflammatory destabilisation and thrombogenicity of the atherosclerotic plaque. In 2006, the Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerosis research Unit of INSERM became an Associate Member of the Transatlantic Network of Research Excellence entitled “Immune mechanisms in Atherosclerosis” funded by the Fondation Leducq. John Chapman was Vice-Chair of the Gordon Conference on Atherosclerosis 2009, and is Chair of the same Conference in 2011.
	Professor Peter Clifton, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Prof Peter Clifton is an endocrinologist with an interest in obesity, type 2 diabetes, lipids and CVD. After 22 years at CSIRO he moved to baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in 2009. He is the Coauthor of the CSIRO Total Well Being diet books and the health heart Book and has over 200 peer-reviewed publications.
	A/Professor Jeffrey Cohn, The Heart Research Institute, Australia	Jeffrey Cohn is the leader of the Nutrition and Metabolism Group at the Heart Research Institute and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney. He has been involved in both scientific and clinical research pertaining to drug and diet effects on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. Much of his work has focused on the atherogenicity of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL), the quantification of TRL remnants, and the plasma kinetics of TRL apolipoproteins in the fed and fasted state. He has published over 95 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and is on the Editorial Board of “Cholesterol”, “Clinical Biochemistry” and the “Journal of Lipid Research”. He is an Associate Editor of “Atherosclerosis” and a Section Editor of “Current Opinion in Lipidology”.
	Professor Kevin Croft, University of Western Australia, Australia	Prof Kevin Croft is a Professorial Fellow in the School of Medicine and Pharmacology. University of Western Australia.. He is co-director of the Biomedical Mass Spectrometry unit and has active research interest in biomarkers of oxidative damage, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, mechanism of vascular protection by dietary polyphenols and arachidonic acid metabolism. He has over 200 peer reviewed publications.
	Professor Linda Curtiss, The Scripps Research Institute, USA	Linda K. Curtiss joined The Scripps Research Institute as a postdoctoral after completing her Ph.D. in 1974 at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. Curtiss is a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Sciences and devotes her time to travel, golf and basic research. Her many research interests, including lipid metabolism, immunochemistry, toll-like receptors and atherosclerosis, have been combined in over 200 published articles that address immunology and the inflammatory aspects of atherosclerosis. Dr. Curtiss considers her mentoring of over 25 postdoctoral fellows to be one of her major and most satisfying accomplishments.
	Professor Alan Daugherty, University of Kentucky, USA	Alan Daugherty received his Ph.D. and D.Sc. from the University of Bath and completed fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis. He assumed a faculty position at Washington University to study mechanisms of lipoprotein modification and immune function in atherosclerosis. He moved to the University of Kentucky in 1997 where he is the Director of the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center and the Gill Foundation Chair of Preventive Cardiology. His research focuses on the role of angiotensin on atherosclerosis and aneurysms. He is highly committed to the research, advocacy, and educational missions of the American Heart Association.
	Professor Sean Davidson, University of Cincinnati, USA	W. Sean Davidson is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. He is the director of the Center for Lipid and Arteriosclerosis Studies (CLAS) located at UC’s Metabolic Diseases Institute. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1995 and performed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Lipid Research, is a fellow of the American Heart Association, an AHA Established Investigator and serves on a variety of regional and national study sections. His research interests center on the structure and function of high density lipoproteins (HDL). A major focus is on the structure/function relationships of human apolipoproteins, particularly apolipoproteins A-I, A-II and A-IV and their role in the pathology of cardiovascular disease and obesity. The laboratory also has a program on the interactions of human apolipoproteins with cell surface proteins and the subsequent transfer of lipids. In addition, his laboratory uses mass spectrometry to probe the lipoprotein proteome. Recent discoveries include a novel structure of apolipoprotein A-I in spherical HDL particles including those isolated from human plasma, a proteomic characterization of human HDL subclasses, and the molecular basis for human apoA-IV lipid binding affinity. He has a wife and two kids, is an avid cyclist and loves beer.
	Professor Mike Davies, The Heart Research Institute, Australia	Michael Davies received his B.Sc. and D.Phil. from University of York, UK. He worked at Brunel University and the University of York, before moving to the Heart Research Institute, Sydney, Australia in 1995, where he is now Deputy Director, an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow, and a Professor at the University of Sydney. He currently President-Elect of the Society for Free Radical Research-International and served previously as the Secretary-General of this organisation (2007-2010). He is joint Editor-in-Chief of Free Radical Research, an Editor of Biochemical Journal and an Associate Editor of Photochemistry and Photobiology. He is also a Vice-President of the International EPR Society. He has worked in the field of oxidation and oxidative damage for nearly 30 years, and his research interests lie in mechanisms of protein modification by reactive species (radicals, two-electron oxidants, glycation reactions), the biological consequences of such reactions, and the development of methods to quantify protein damage in disease, with particular reference to atherosclerosis.
	Richard Deckelbaum, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, USA	Dr. Richard J. Deckelbaum is Robert R. Williams Professor of Nutrition, Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, and Director of the Institute of Human Nutrition. Dr. Deckelbaum’s research interests concern human plasma lipoproteins and cellular effects of dietary fats and free fatty acids on lipid metabolism and gene expression. Recent studies have emphasized potential basic mechanisms that underlie the ability of omega-3 fatty acids to decrease cardiovascular risk, both coronary artery disease and stroke. He is the author of > 300 scientific papers. He is a member of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. He contributes to projects related to health and science as a bridge between populations in the Mideast, Africa, and Asia.
	Professor Sam El-Osta, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Bio Coming Soon.
	Professor Mark Febbraio, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Professor Mark Febbraio is a Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC, is the head of the Cellular and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory and Director of Basic Science in the Division of Metabolism and Obesity at the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute. His laboratory is focussed on understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with lipid-induced inflammation and insulin resistance. He has authored over 140 peer reviewed papers in leading journals such as Nature Medicine, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, PNAS and Diabetes. He has won prizes at international, national and institutional levels including the A K McIntyre Prize for significant contributions to Australian Physiological Science (1999), the Colin I Johnson Lectureship by the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia (2006) the ESA/ADS Joint Plenary Lecture (2009) and the Sandford Skinner Oration (2011). He is on the Editorial Board of Diabetes, The American Journal of Physiology Endocrinology & Metabolism, Exercise Immunology Reviews and Journal of Applied Physiology. He is a member of seven National or International Professional bodies. He has served on The Council of The Australian Diabetes Society and is a past Honorary Treasurer of this Society (2006-2008). He has served on National Health and Medical Research Grant Review Panels for several years in the areas of Physiology, Cell Biology and Diabetes/Obesity.
	Professor Sam Gidding, Nemours Cardiac Center, USA	Dr. Samuel Gidding is Professor of Pediatrics at Jefferson Medical College and Cardiology Division Head at the Nemours Cardiac Center of A. I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE, USA. He has practiced pediatric preventive cardiology since 1986, participating in the DISC, CARDIA, PDAY, Bogalusa Heart Study, and TODAY studies as well as conducting his own research. He has participated in scientific statement and guideline development for the Amercian Heart Association, NIH, WHO, CDC, National Lipid Association, and the American Diabetic Association.
	Professor Henry Ginsberg, Columbia University, USA	Henry N. Ginsberg, MD, is the Irving Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, and Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, New York. He is the Principal Investigator of one of the first 12 NIH–funded Clinical Translational Science Awards (CTSA). Dr. Ginsberg is principal investigator on two R01 research grants from the NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He is also the co-principal investigator at Columbia on the ACCORD Trial and was the lead author on the ACCORD Lipid study published recently in the NEJM. His research interests have focused on the regulation of plasma cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels, particularly the metabolism of apolipoprotein B–containing lipoproteins in cells, mice, and humans. Much of his present work focuses on the interaction between insulin resistance, increased secretion of very low-density lipoproteins by the liver, and hepatic steatosis. He has authored or coauthored more than 250 articles, reviews, and chapters related to lipids, diabetes, and heart disease.
	A/Professor Jonathan Golledge, James Cook University, Australia	Professor Jon Golledge is an academic vascular surgeon resident in Townsville, Queensland, working at The Townsville Hospital, James Cook University and The Mater Townsville. He also has an honorary Professorial appointment at University of Queensland. His research interests include novel diagnostics, prognostics and management pathways for peripheral artery disease, including lower limb athero-thrombosis, aortic aneurysm and carotid artery disease.
	Dr Albert Groen, Academic Medical Center, The Netherlands	(Al)Bert Groen is a professor of Systems Biology at the University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. He graduated in Biochemistry at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands and did his PhD at the same University on the subject Control of Metabolic Fluxes. He is the chair of a Center of Systems Biology at the University of Groningen focusing on the effect of ageing on lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. His current main research interest is identification of novel metabolic pathways and the elucidation of their inherent control structures. His group discovered a novel pathway for cholesterol excretion from the body. He has published > 200 peer reviewed papers about this and other topics.
	Dr Stan Hazen, Lerner Research Institute, USA	Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD, is the Head of the Section for Preventive Cardiology, Cleveland Clinic, Vice Chair of Translational Research, Lerner Research Institute, and Professor of Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Dr Hazen has publishing more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of atherosclerosis, oxidation and inflammation biochemistry, HDL structure/function and cardiovascular disease. His research spans from bench to bedside, and uses a multidisciplinary approach to uncover fundamental processes involved in the development of atherosclerotic heart disease.
	Professor Jay Heinecke, University of Washington, USA	The major focus of research in the Heinecke laboratory is to understand the role of HDL and macrophages in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, diabetes and other inflammatory diseases. Our efforts are directed towards identifying specific proteins that play key roles in cholesterol metabolism and macrophage inflammation in vivo. Current studies are centered on three areas. First, we are investigating the pathways for cholesterol efflux from macrophages, which is of central importance in the cardioprotective effects of HDL. Second, to extend our findings to humans, we are performing translational studies to determine if altered HDL protein composition, macrophage sterol efflux, and/or inhibition of macrophage inflammation associate with CAD and diabetic status. Third, we are using proteomics and mice with genetically engineered deficiencies to investigate the cell biology of macrophages and dendritic cells –immune cells derived from circulating monocytes– that are implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease.
	Professor Richard Hobbs, University of Oxford, UK	Richard Hobbs is currently Professor and Head of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, UK. He is the Director of the NIHR National School for Primary Care Research (2009-) and was co-Director of the Quality and Outcomes (QOF) Review Panel from 2005-09. He sits on several national and international scientific and research funding boards, including the Council of the British Heart Foundation and the Board of the British Primary Care Cardiovascular Society. He currently Chairs the Council for Cardiovascular Primary Care, European Society of Cardiology (ESC); the Prevention and Care Board, British Heart Foundation; and the European Primary Care Cardiovascular Society (EPCCS). Professor Hobbs‘ research interests focus on cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical trials, especially relating to vascular and stroke risk, and heart failure. Overall his publications include 28 book chapters, 12 edited books and over 320 original papers in peer reviewed journals such as the Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, Atherosclerosis, EHJ and Stroke. His research has impacted on international health policies and clinical guidelines. Within the NHS, he has consulted on National Service Frameworks for CHD, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure and several National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) reviews. He has provided clinical care in inner-city general practice for 30 years.
	Professor Steve Humphries, UCL Division of Medicine, UK	British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Genetics at University College London, where he heads a group of more than 30 scientists, students, and technicians. Current work includes the study of genes involved in lipid metabolism, inflammation, coagulation and fibrinolysis, and with genes expressed in cells of the artery wall. Much of his work has been in applying genetics in population-based studies, thus bridging genetics and epidemiology. Ongoing work focuses on the identification of the molecular mechanisms of the effects of gene variants and the use of genetic tests to identify at-risk individuals, specifically those at risk of premature heart disease.
	Dr Chris Jackson, University of Bristol, UK	Chris Jackson has divided his career between the pharmaceutical industry and academia, focussing throughout on the pathophysiology and treatment of cardiovascular disease. He was awarded his PhD in 1989 at the University of Cambridge, UK, for work carried out at Cambridge and at Aventis on factors and drugs, particularly antihypertensive agents, controlling the behaviour of vascular smooth muscle cells after arterial injury. He extended this work in the laboratory of Michael Reidy at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA, showing that PDGF and FGF-2 are controlling factors for smooth muscle cell migration and that plasminogen activators form a link between fibrinolysis and arterial repair. After a period in pharmaceutical research at Pfizer and DuPont Merck in the UK and the USA, he returned to academia to head a research group at the Bristol Heart Institute in the University of Bristol, UK and focussed their work on atherosclerotic plaque rupture. This led to the development of the first animal model of plaque rupture, and has shown that a number of proteolytic enzymes are coordinated during plaque rupture and subsequent repair. More recently, they have begun to investigate links between arterial adaptive remodelling and plaque rupture.
	Professor Wendy Jessup, UNSW, Australia	Wendy Jessup is Co-Leader of the Macrophage Biology Group in the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales and an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow. Her main research interest is the role of macrophage foam cells in atherosclerosis and the mechanisms involved in their formation. Specific interests include cell cholesterol traffic and metabolism, relationships between innate immune system and cholesterol metabolism, the role of cholesterol in membrane structure and function, membrane cholesterol transporters and the metabolism of lipid oxidation products (especially oxysterols) in atherosclerosis and their influence on macrophage foam cell formation and physiology.
	Professor Fredrik Karpe, Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, UK	Fredrik Karpe is Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Oxford and Honorary Consultant/Lead Clinician for the Lipid Service. He is known for his work on postprandial lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and more lately the focus has been on human adipose tissue function in relation to obesity. To promote research in translational medicine and functional genomics, he has established the Oxford Biobank (n=5,000 participants), which is one of the first dedicated bioresources for recruit-by-genotype approaches. He as published more than 150 original articles and has an h-index of 45.
	Professor Tony Kettle-Christchurch, University of Otago, NZ	Bio Coming Soon.
	Professor Bronwyn Kingwell, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Professor Bronwyn Kingwell is a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Principal Research Fellow, and at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne is both Executive Director, Science Policy and Diabetes and Metabolism Theme Leader. She is current chair of the National Committee for Medicine of the Australian Academy of Science. An integrative physiologist, she heads a multi-disciplinary laboratory with a strong clinical translational flavour in metabolic and vascular disease. She has published over 140 peer-reviewed papers with strengths including vascular biomechanical properties, predictors of unstable coronary heart disease and metabolic effects of HDL.
	Professor Petri T Kovanen, Wihuri Research Institute, Finland	Dr Kovanen received his medical degree in 1970 from the University of Basle, Switzerland, and his M.D. Ph.D degree in 1975 from the University of Helsinki, Finland. He conducted postdoctoral work (1976 – 1980) with Nobel Laureates Joseph L. Goldstein and Michael S. Brown at the University of Texas, Health Science Center at Dallas, USA. He currently serves as Director of the Wihuri Research Institute in Helsinki. His main research interests focus on the inflammatory pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. He has been exploring the role of mast cells, rediscovered invaders of the arterial intima, as potent effector cells in atherosclerosis and its clinical complications.
	Professor Len Kritharides, Concord Hospital, Australia	Len Kritharides is Head of Department and Director of Cardiology at Concord Repatriation General Hospital (CRGH) Sydney where he practises as a General and Interventional Cardiologist. He is conjoint Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney and at the University of New South Wales (NSW), and co-leader of the Macrophage Biology Group at the Centre for Vascular Research, University of New South Wales. He is the current Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand. He has diverse research interests in biochemical, cellular and clinical aspects of cardiovascular disease, including the cellular transport and glycosylation of apolipoprotein E, cellular cholesterol metabolism, and platelet and leucocyte activation in coronary disease. His research is supported by Program and Project grant funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and Grants in Aid from the National Heart Foundation of Australia.
	A/Professor Gilles Lambert, Universite de Nantes, France	Dr Gilles Lambert is currently Associate Professor in nutrition and cell biology at the University of Nantes Medical School. He was awarded a PhD degree from the University of Paris in 1998. Gilles worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Molecular Disease Branch of the NIH and joined the Heart Research Institute (Sydney) as a visiting scientist in 2006. His major work has been on plasma HDL metabolism. He has also worked on the bile acid receptor FXR. Recently, Dr Lambert has conducted research on PCSK9 a major inhibitor of the LDL receptor. His group has a strong interest in peripheral artery disease.
	Professor Yuji Matsuzawa, Sumitomo Hospital, Japan	Presently Professor Yuji Matsuzawa is the Director at Sumitomo Hospital and Professor Emeritus at Osaka University. Societies: President of Japan Society for the Study of Obesity, President of ⅩⅢth International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, Chairman of Asian Pacific Federation of International Atherosclerosis Society, Chairman of Japanese Society of Internal medicine, Chairman of Asian Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity, Steering Committee Member of Japanese Society of Molecular Medicine, Steering Committee Member of Japan Atherosclerosis Society, Steering Committee Member of Japanese Circulation Society and apart of the Steering Committee Member of The Japan Diabetes Society.
	Dr Theodore Mazzone, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA	Dr. Mazzone received his M.D. degree with distinction from Northwestern University Medical School. He was an Intern and Resident in Internal Medicine at UCLA Medical Center, and a Senior Fellow in Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington. In 2007, Dr Mazzone became the founding Director of the UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science. The Center is based in the College of Medicine but includes faculty and leadership participation from 12 UIC colleges and Institutes and the UIC Medical Center. The Center was funded through the NIH/NCRR CTSA grant mechanism in 2009. Dr. Mazzone has published over 100 scientific articles (in journals such as the Journal of Biological Chemistry; Journal of Clinical Investigation; Proceedings of the National Academy of Science; Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology; Diabetes Care; Biochemistry; Circulation; Diabetes; JAMA and the Journal of Lipid Research) and 13 book chapters. He has been consistently named in “America’s Top Doctors” and as one of “Chicago’s Top Doctors”. His clinical interests include multiple risk factor diabetes, metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance and refractory lipid disorders. Dr. Mazzone is currently Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Professor of Kinesiology and Human Nutrition, Chief of the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, and Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
	Dr Heather Medbury, Westmead Hospital, Australia	Heather directs research in the Vascular Biology Research Centre, Surgery, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital. She is currently a director of the Australian Atherosclerosis society. Her PhD was in transplant immunology and she retains the immunology interest. With her group showing that monocyte derived cells contribute to the fibrous cap through collagen production, her focus is on understanding the role of macrophage subsets in atherosclerosis, particularly in relation to plaque stability.
	A/Professor Peter Meikle, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	A/Prof Peter Meikle is Head of the Metabolomics Laboratory at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. He holds affiliate positions at Bio21, Melbourne University and the Department of Medicine, Monash Medical School, Monash University. The Metabolomics Laboratory has a focus the dyslipidemia associated with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and its relationship to the pathogenesis of these disease states. The work is leading to new approaches to early diagnosis, risk assessment and therapeutic monitoring of these most prevalent diseases.
	Professor Trevor Mori, University of Western Australia, Australia	Trevor Mori is a Research Professor and NH&MRC Senior Research Fellow in the School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia. He is a medical research scientist with an interest in nutrition, hypertension, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. His research interests include omega-3 fatty acids in preventing cardiovascular disease; the role of lipid oxidation in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease; fatty acid metabolism; resolvins and protectins; platelet and leukocyte function; and control mechanisms in blood pressure regulation. His research has been supported by the US National Institutes of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Australian Research Council. He has published more than 180 papers and has established numerous international and national research collaborations.
	A/Professor Martin Ng, University of Sydney, Australia	Bio Coming Soon.
	Dr Stephen Nicholls, Heart and Vascular Institute, USA	Stephen Nicholls is Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine, Cardiovascular Director of the Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Center for Clinical Research and Director of the Atherosclerosis Imaging Core Laboratories. Following clinical training in cardiovascular medicine and doctoral studies in the anti-inflammatory properties of HDL in Australia he moved to the Cleveland Clinic. He holds faculty appointments in the departments of Cardiovascular Medicine and Cell Biology. He has authored more than 300 book chapters, meeting abstracts and original manuscripts in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, Lancet, Nature Medicine and Circulation. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, ATVB and the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation. His current research interests include the protective properties of HDL, the role of inflammation in atherogenesis and the development of new imaging modalities to assess factors that influence the natural history of atherosclerotic plaque. He plays a lead role in clinical trials that investigate the impact of novel anti-atherosclerotic therapies.
	Professor Borge Nordestgaard, University of Copenhagen, Denmark	Børge G. Nordestgaard, MD, DMSc is Chief Physician at Copenhagen University Hospital and Professor at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Scientific education was with Steen Stender in Copenhagen, Donald Zilversmit in Ithaca, New York, and with Barry Lewis in London. Clinical training included hyperlipidemia, cardiology, and clinical biochemistry. He is chairing the Copenhagen General Population Study (www.cgps.dk) and is also a steering committee member of the Copenhagen City Heart Study, the JUPITER trial, and the High Risk Plaque Initiative. He has supervised 39 Ph.D. students and 19 post doctoral fellows, and has published about 300 original articles and reviews.
	Professor Vesa Olkkonen, Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Finland	Vesa Olkkonen is a molecular cell biologist who at present acts as Director of the Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research at Biomedicum-Helsinki, Finland. His major research topic is the human oxysterol-binding protein (ORP) family his group identified in 2001. ORPs are implicated as sterol sensors or transporters involved in a variety of cellular functions: lipid metabolism, sterol transport, organelle motility, Golgi membrane trafficking, and a number of signaling events. Olkkonen’s group has mainly focused on investigating ORP function in cultured macrophage, adipocyte and hepatocyte models. Moreover, he employs mouse models to address the putative role of ORPs in atherogenesis.
	Professor Karlneinz Peter, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Bio Coming Soon.
	Professor Mike Phillips, University of Pennsylvania, USA	Michael Phillips is Research Professor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania. His major research interests are concerned with the structure-function relationships of high density lipoprotein (HDL) with the goal of understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for the anti-atherogenic properties of this lipoprotein. He and his colleagues have investigated the molecular mechanisms by which HDL promotes cholesterol efflux from cells. In parallel, the properties of the anti-atherogenic apolipoproteins, apoA-I and apoE, have been investigated using protein engineering techniques and a range of physical-biochemical approaches. The ways in which apoA-I domain structure modulates the ability of the protein to mediate reverse cholesterol transport in mice are being investigated. Recent research is concerned with understanding the molecular mechanisms of ABCA1-mediated HDL biogenesis and the factors that give rise to a heterogeneous population of nascent HDL particles.
	Professor Henry Pownall, Baylor College of Medicine, USA	Henry J. Pownall, PhD, a physical chemist and the Josephine S. Abercrombie Professor of Atherosclerosis Research with has >35 years of research experience in lipids, lipoproteins and atherosclerosis. His studies have encompassed biophysics, lipid synthesis, lipid-mobilizing enzymes and transfer proteins, dietary studies, cell biology, and lipid metabolism in mice. In the process, he made the molecules-to-mouse transition while retaining quantitative molecular models and physico-chemical principles. Dr. Pownall is widely published in disciplines extending from chemical physics to clinical/translational investigation, and with AM Gotto, Jr wrote the Manual of Lipid Disorders (462 p). His current work focuses on oxysterols and HDL and he is currently validating a reaction catalyzed by Streptococcal serum opacity factor as a potential reverse cholesterol transport therapeutic.
	Professor John Prins, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Australia	John Prins is Director/CEO of the Mater Medical Research Institute, Senior Endocrinologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital, and Professor of Endocrinology at The University of Queensland. He undertook his clinical training in Endocrinology and his PhD in adipose tissue biology in Australia and then undertook a 4-year Post-doctoral appointment at the University of Cambridge, UK. In 1998 he returned to Brisbane, Australia, where he now heads an active research Programme undertaking clinical trials in Obesity and Diabetes and investigating various aspects of adipose biology, insulin signalling, and adipogenesis. Much of the work involves cell- and molecular-biological analysis of human tissues. He has received over $10M in research funding, has published over 100 research publications with over 7500 citations and sits on numerous grant review and advisory committees for NHMRC, NGOs and Industry.
	Dr Dan Rader, Penn Heart and Vascular Center, USA	Dr. Rader is Cooper-McClure Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Chief of the Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Associate Director of Penn’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. Dr. Rader’s basic research laboratory focuses on genetic and pharmacologic regulation of lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerosis, and he directs a translational research program focusing on human genetics of lipid disorders and atherosclerosis and novel approaches to treatment of dyslipidemia and regression of atherosclerosis. Dr Rader received his undergraduate degree from Lehigh University and his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a fellowship in lipid metabolism at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
	Professor Kosh Ray, St George’s University, UK	Professor Ray completed his basic medical and cardiology training at Birmingham University and the west midlands. He completed his MD at Sheffield University as a British Heart Foundation Junior Fellow and post doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School funded by the British Heart Foundation. He was appointed as a Consultant Cardiologist in 2006 in Cambridge and a BHF Intermediate Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he also completed a masters in Epidemiology from Cambridge University. He was appointed as Professor of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at St George’s University of London in 2010. Professor Ray’s research interests focus on cardiometabolic risk and preventative cardiology, cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical trials . He has conducted some of the most definitive studies to date on lipid lowering and glycaemic control for the prevention of CV outcomes. His work has contributed towards national and international guidelines. His goals are to develop cardiovascular prevention and care in the community to reduce CV disease in South West London and establish a biorepository in the unique ethnic mix of south London for identifying novel markers of risk, targets for treatment and for clinical intervention trials based on biomarkers, genotype and ethnicity. Professor Ray has over 100 publications and book chapters and sits on the editorial board of several medical journals and is a reviewer for the Medical Research Council and an external expert for NICE. He is a member of the European Atherosclerosis Society Consensus panel which has evaluated the role of Lp(a), HDL-C and Triglycerides for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
	Professor Alan Remaley, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, USA	Bio Coming Soon.
	Professor Ernst Schaefer, Tufts University, USA	Ernst J. Schaefer is a Distinguished University Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, Human Nutrition Research Center in Aging at Tufts University and the Cardiovascular Research Clinic, Boston, MA. His research focuses on the nutritional, genetic, and pharmacologic regulation of lipoprotein metabolism, especially high density lipoproteins, and the relationship of the lipoproteins to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease risk. Ernst J. Schaefer, MD, Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, Tufts University 711 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111 USA Phone 617 556 3100 Fax 617 556 3103 mobile 781 258 1454 Ernst.schaefer@tufts.edu
	Professor Nabil Seidah, Montreal Diabetes Research Centre, Canada	Over the last 36 years, Dr. Seidah has attracted more than 103 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. He is member of numerous scientific associations including the Cancer Research Society and the American Heart Association. In 1991, he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the recipient of several awards, including the 1995 Medical Research Council Scientist Award, and was made a member of the Order of Quebec in 1997 and the Order of Canada in 1999. In 2001, he received the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada and the Parizeau Prize of the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences. He has been endowed with a Canada chair since 2003. In 2009 he received the Pfizer Distinguished Cardiovascular-Metabolic Research Jean-Davignon Award. He has been invited as a speaker to more than 324 national and international conferences. He organized the first Keystone Conference on the proprotein convertases and in 2006 was the chair of a prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Proprotein Processing, Trafficking and Secretion. He has been selected to present the prestigious “Jacques Benoît” lecture at the 7th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology held in Rouen France in July 2010. Dr Seidah is internationally recognized as a world leader in convertases and their physiological roles. His numerous publications that tally more than 594 peer reviewed manuscripts have been widely recognized, and in fact he is cited as the most recognized protease expert in Canada and 6th worldwide. Indeed, Pubmed cites N.G. Seidah as the topmost in Canada and the 1st out of the worldwide 20 top scientists working on “Proprotein Convertases” since 1971.
	A/Professor Leon Simons, UNSW, Australia	Leon Simons is Associate Professor of Mediicine at the University of NSW and Director of Lipid Department at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney. He is Director of the Dubbo Study of the Elderly, a prospective study of healthy ageing. He has worked in the field of cardiovascular research for almost 40 years and has published numerous peer-reviewed papers. He is a co-founder of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society and now a life member of that society. He has interests centred around preventive cardiology, lipids, clinical trials, and patient compliance with lipid and anti-hypertensive medications.
	Professor Bart Staels, Institut Pasteur de Lille, France	Bart Staels, PhD., is professor in the faculty of pharmacy at the University of Lille 2, Lille, France. Since January 1st, 2007, he has become director of the Inserm Unit UMR-S 545 and chairman of the Department of Atherosclerosis. He has been director of the new founded Inserm Unit UMR 1011 since January 1st, 2010 (AERES evaluation A+ and n° 1 of CSS4 Inserm) with laboratories (around 75 persons) on the campus of the Institut Pasteur de Lille, and the Research Pole of the University of Lille 2, Lille, France. The recipient of numerous grants, awards, and scientific prizes, Pr Staels has been awarded the Young Investigator Award of the European Atherosclerosis Society, the Bronze Medal of the CNRS and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Atherosclerosis Society, and the pharmaceutical “Barré” prize 2007 from the Faculté de Pharmacie of Montreal. Pr. Staels’ research focuses on molecular pharmacology of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes. To date, Pr. Staels has published more than 300 original papers. He has also authored more than 160 review articles and contributed to several book chapters. He is chairman of the 2012 Keystone Symposium on “Genetic and Molecular Basis of Obesity and Body Weight Regulation”.
	Professor Roland Stocker, University of Sydney, Australia	Roland Stocker is a current NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. He received his training as a biochemist at the ETH Zürich (Switzerland), ANU (Canberra, Australia) and the University of California (Berkeley, USA). Following an appointment as Assistant Professor at the University of Berne (Switzerland), Roland moved permanently to Australia in 1988 where he worked as Group Leader at the Heart Research Institute for 13 years, as a Professor at the Centre for Vascular Research at the University of New South Wales for 5 years, before taking up a Professorial Chair at The University of Sydney in late 2006. Roland is an international leader in the field of redox biology who through his career has made seminal contributions and shifted paradigms in the field of oxidative processes and antioxidants in cardiovascular disease. His research achievements include: The discovery of beneficial antioxidant activities of the bile pigment bilirubin; The identification of the reduced form of coenzyme Q10 as an important antioxidant in circulating lipoproteins; Key discoveries in our understanding of the molecular action of vitamin E in lipoprotein oxidation and in the delineation of the process of arterial lipoprotein oxidation to atherogenesis; and Pioneering work in the areas of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and heme oxygenase-1 (the topic of today’s presentation).
	A/Professor Dmitri Sviridov, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Dmitri Sviridov has been working in the field of atherosclerosis and lipoprotein research for 32 years. From 1978 to 1992 he was working in the National Cardiology Research Centre in Moscow, first as a PhD student and then as a Research Officer and a Senior Research Fellow in charge of the laboratory. During these years his research was focused on interaction of platelets with the vessel wall and cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism in the human small intestine. In 1993 he joined the Baker Medical Research Institute and moved to Australia. From 1993 Dmitri worked as a Senior Research Officer in the Laboratory of Lipoproteins and Atherosclerosis; in 1999 he was appointed a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and from 2002 he has been heading the Laboratory of Lipoproteins and Atherosclerosis at the Baker Heart Research Institute. Dmitri is an Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia. Dmitri Sviridov is an author of over 130 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and books and a co-inventor in 4 international patents. Since 1999 Dmitri has been a recipient of 34 grants totaling 12 million dollars. He is a member of the International and Australian Atherosclerosis Societies, American Heart Association (from 2002 – a Fellow of the American Heart Association), and many other scientific and professional societies. Dmitri’s research is focused on molecular, cellular and clinical aspects of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in relation to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Specifically, it involves studying all aspects of reverse cholesterol transport, intracellular cholesterol trafficking and structural and functional studies of high density lipoprotein.
	Professor Merlin Thomas, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia	Professor Merlin Thomas is a diabetologist, currently working at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia. His research has been widely published with nearly one hundred and ninety papers in peer-reviewed journals including Diabetes, The Lancet , Diabetes Care and FASEB. His work has also received a number of awards including the Victorian Premier's Award for Medical Research. His ongoing research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of vascular damage in diabetes, with a particular focus on advanced glycation and its interaction with other pathogenic pathways, including metabolic memory and renin angiotensin system.
	Professor Andrew Tonkin, Monash University, Australia	Professor Andrew Tonkin is Head of the Cardiovascular Research Unit in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, and Consultant Cardiologist, Austin Health, Melbourne. Prior to this he was Director of Cardiology at Austin Health and Chief Medical Officer, National Heart Foundation of Australia. He has also been a member of the Executive Board of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the World Heart Federation and has chaired many national expert groups developing clinical guidelines for cardiovascular disease, including lipid management and implementation of the absolute risk approach in Australia. His major research interests are cardiovascular epidemiology, clinical trials, health inequalities and systems of care.
	Professor Gilbert Upchurch, University of Michigan, USA	Armed with a background of trying to provide excellent clinical care for patients with aortic disease, balanced with an intellectual interest in basic sciences, I have spent my academic career dedicated to practicing as a clinician scientist. Clinically, I have an active practice in both open and endovascular therapy to treat complex aortic disease. Since arriving to the University of Michigan in 1999 and then moving to the University of Virginia to be Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, I have been apart of well over 20 clinical trials examining various aspects of treating patients with aortic disease with novel endovascular and pharmacologic therapies. Concurrently, I have also had a very active basic science laboratory which has received NIH funding on both the K and R levels over the last 12 years focusing on the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysms.
	A/Professor Miranda van Eck, Leiden University, The Netherlands	Dr. Van Eck studied Biopharmaceutical Sciences, specializing in Biopharmaceutics at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands. After her graduation in 1994 she obtained her PhD from Leiden University in 1999 on the use of the bone marrow transplantation technique as a novel strategy to study the role of macrophage genes in lipoprotein metabolism and atherogenesis. In 2001, Dr. Van Eck was appointed as Research Fellow of the Netherlands Heart Foundation. In 2005, she received a prestigious VIDI Innovational Research Grant and an ASPASIA premium of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and became appointed as Assistant Professor at the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research. In 2007, Dr. Van Eck was appointed Established Investigator of the Netherlands Heart Foundation and became Associate Professor. Her current research is focussed upon the role of genes involved in HDL metabolism and reverse cholesterol transport from the arterial wall to the liver with special focus on the role of ABC-transporters and scavenger receptor BI in this process. Dr. Van Eck supervised the successful completion of 4 PhD theses, has 82 peer-reviewed original publications in international scientific journals and has a Hirsch index of 26. She received numerous awards for her work, including twice a Pfizer International HDL Research Award and a Peter Dolphin Award for her original and outstanding contribution to the HDL Research Awards Program and the Galenus Prize for pharmacology and fundamental research which recognizes innovative pharmaceutical research in the Netherlands.
	Professor Luc van Gaal, Antwerp University Hospital, Belguim	Luc Van Gaal studied medicine at the University of Antwerp, where he graduated in 1978. He obtained a specialist degree in internal medicine and afterwards in endocrinology and metabolism in 1983. Since then, he has become responsible for the Metabolic Unit at the Antwerp University Hospital. In 1992 he became Professor of Medicine at Antwerp University and is currently head of the department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism of the University Hospital. Professor Van Gaal’s main clinical and research interests are related to obesity, type 2 diabetes and lipid metabolism. He is a member of many scientific, national and international societies and a member of the Editorial Board of a series of scientific journals. He is board member of the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO) and Past-President of the Belgian Diabetic Society. He is as a founding member also involved in the scientific activities of the Obesitas Forum (Belgium) and the International (IASO) SCOPE programme. He is the running secretary of the Belgian Endocrine Society. In 2000, he was the co-President of the 10th European Congress on Obesity, organized in Antwerp in May 2000. He participated to and/or featured as (country) coordinator or principal investigator a number of clinical (outcome) trials in the field of obesity and diabetes. He has published more than 240 papers in international medical journals, mainly in the areas of general endocrinology, obesity, diabetes and lipids and has contributed to a number of textbooks about obesity.
	Dr Kasey Vickers, National Institutes of Health, USA	Kasey Vickers is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Lipoprotein Metabolism Section at the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD. He received his B.S. from Texas Tech University in 2001 and his Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Sciences from Baylor College of Medicine in 2008. Dr. Vickers has received several training awards, including the 2009 XV International Symposium on Atherosclerosis Young Investigator Award and the Fellows Award for Research Excellence from the National Institutes of Health in 2010 and 2012. The global objectives of his research are to determine how HDL regulates gene expression and identify genes that influence HDL levels in wellness and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Vickers is particularly interested in the following: i.) microRNA regulatory modules that control cholesterol metabolism, ii.) small RNA intercellular communication through lipoproteins, and iii.) functional microRNA variants that contribute to dyslipidemia.
	Professor Gerald Watts, The University of Western Australia, Australia	Gerald Watts is a graduate of the University of London and received his clinical and research training in the UK. He is a consultant physician, specializing in diabetes, dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular medicine. Holding a Winthrop Professorship in The School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia, he is also Director and Head of the Metabolic Research Centre and Lipid Disorders Clinic at Royal Perth Hospital and Chair of The FH Australasia Network. His research interests include lipid disorders, diabetes and cardiovascular risk prevention. He is actively involved in undergraduate medical teaching and supervisors several PhD students and post-docs. He has authored over 300 published works and is an editor of Atherosclerosis, Metabolism and Clinical Science.
	Dr Cheryl Wellington UBC Faculty of Medicine, Canada	Dr. Wellington obtained her PhD in Microbiology at UBC in 1991 and did postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, University of Calgary, and the University of British Columbia. She joined the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the UBC in 2000 and was promoted to Professor in 2011. Dr. Wellington's research investigates lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in the brain and how this relates to neurological disorders. Dr. Wellington's group has made key contributions to the understanding of the role of apolipoprotein E (apoE) in Abeta metabolism, Alzheimer's Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury.
	Dr Zemin Yao, University of Ottawa, Canada	Dr. Yao is a professor of Departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology and a member of Ottawa Institute of Systems Biology. He obtained his MSc and PhD in biochemistry at University of British Columbia, and conducted postdoctoral research training at the Gladstone Institute of University of California San Francisco. In 1991, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Biochemistry of University of Alberta. In 1994, he joined University of Ottawa Heart Institute to direct the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory. Since 2002, he has served as Chairman of Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology at University of Ottawa.
	Professor Seppo Yla-Herttuala, University of Kuopio, Finland	Seppo Yla-Herttuala, MD, PhD, FESC. Professor of Molecular Medicine, A.I.Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences and Department of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland. Prof. Yla-Herttuala is internationally recognized leader in cardiovascular gene therapy. His team was first to use adenovirus-mediated gene transfer in human arteries in 1996. Since then, he has conducted several clinical trials in cardiovascular gene therapy. His group is also widely recognized for basic biology and epigenetic research with vascular endothelial growth factors, especially with the new members of the growth factor family. Professor Yla-Herttuala is currently President of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and a member in the editorial boards of several major US and European cardiovascular and gene therapy journals. His list of publications includes over 350 scientific papers and articles about cardiovascular diseases, VEGFs, atherosclerosis, restenosis, epigenetherapy and gene therapy.
	Professor Shinji Yokoyama, Chubu University, Japan	Graduate of The University of Tokyo Medical School. Posdoc at The University of Chicago with FJ Kezdy. National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute in Osaka. The University of Alberta, Department of Medicine, in Edmonton. Biochemistry, Nagoya City University Medical School. Chubu University, Food and Nutritional Sciences. Working on LCAT, apoA-I, CETP, lipid-apolipoprotein interaction, HDL biogenesis, ABCA1 and so on. Major contributions: Activation of LCAT and CETP by helical apolipoproteins and helical peptides: Discovery of HDL biogenesis reaction by cell-apoA-I interaction: Development of LDL-apheresis technology: Regulation of ABCA1 activity for HDL biogenesis. Fishing and mushroom hunting.

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