Vasculata 2022

SUMMARY
Since 2004, Vasculata conferences have been convening across various academic institutions.
This conference falls under the auspices of the North American Vascular Biology Organization
(NAVBO), and the NAVBO Education Committee selects the hosting site for each year. At their
last meeting, the committee chose Duke University School of Medicine (Duke) as the host of the
2022 meeting in the Triangle area with participation by faculty from Duke and UNC at Chapel Hill.
This meeting has steadily grown over the years to 120 attendees. Vasculata is an intense “boot
camp” that introduces students and fellows to vascular biology. Emphasis of the host site
(Duke/UNC) is on short seminars covering a defined curriculum and reading assignments in the
original literature. Contact with local faculty and fellows, including within workshops and poster
sessions, is a critical aspect of the course. The meeting will focus on environmental and gender
modifiers of vascular health and will introduce the local academic environment, especially
vascular biology and hematology minded researchers, to the scientific community of the Triangle
area. Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and NIEHS have a rich history
of cardiovascular research and at this meeting will disseminate their knowledge and expertise to
the community. Training next generation scientists and underrepresented minorities in vascular
research is a key objective, and will be facilitated at this conference. Researchers from the
Research Triangle North Carolina area study a variety of topics including microcirculation,
vascular tone, vascular integrity, pediatric pulmonary circulation, congenital heart defect, blood-
vascular interface, immune-vascular interface, bleeding disorders, redox biology and
hypertension-related research. All these topics are of interest and directly relevant to NHLBI
mission. Further, training, dissemination of new knowledge through workshops and presentations,
and providing career-related information to a diverse pool of trainees fit with the education mission
of NHLBI.