Making History in Miami at PHA's 6th International Conference
For the first time in its history the Pulmonary Hypertension Association's international conference will include a scientific program for physicians, researchers, and nurses. Featuring internationally known experts, the scientific program is entitled, From Puzzle to Picture—Mechanisms of PH: Identification of the Next Therapeutic Targets, June 24–25 in Miami, Florida.
Co-sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD), the program will include poster sessions, abstracts, and workshops as it consolidates recent basic and investigational advances to develop a consensus structure for further investigation. My colleagues and I on the Scientific Leadership Council are excited about the opportunity to meet in a forum that will bring together our peers from throughout the country in the spirit of scientific inquiry. After this meeting, physicians, researchers and nurses can take advantage of the patient-oriented conference, June 25–27 at which more than 50 medical and patient-led sessions will be held.
The establishment of the Scientific Sessions means that we have developed an exciting and much needed venue in which to carry on the dialogue with our peers, providing a connection for physicians and doctorate-level researchers with a special interest in PH to meet with key opinion leaders whose investigative work is paving the way for advances in identifying the mechanisms of PH, and hopefully appropriate therapeutic targets. The sessions will facilitate an improved exchange of information, setting the stage for new multicenter clinical trials spearheaded by the Scientific Leadership Council.
For physicians unable to attend the conference, however, we will be providing comprehensive coverage of the highlights of the meeting in the next issue of Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension, including a Roundtable Discussion by members of the Editorial Advisory Board. The coverage will include topics such as the role of ion channels in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the role of serotonin in PAH, cellular biology of PAH, the genetics of PAH, the role of BMPR in PAH, whether genetic mechanisms can impact upon therapy and future directions in therapy.
As PHA has suggested in its literature in advance of the event, “Come to Miami for the Science. . . Stay for the Experience.”