UNC's Integrative Vascular Biology (IVB) T32 Training Program and the McAllister Heart Institute (MHI) jointly announce their Annual Research Symposium on Wednesday, May 18th, 2022. This year's event will be held from 9AM - 5PM at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC campus, but will also have some virtual components. The symposium highlights research from graduate students, postdocs, and medical fellows within the cardiovascular community at UNC and the greater Chapel Hill area and is intended to promote multi-disciplinary collaborative research. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Jane Freedman, who is Physician-in-Chief of Vanderbilt's Heart and Vascular Institute and Editor-in-Chief of Circulation Research and by Karen Mohlke who is Professor and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Genetics at UNC. Dr. Freedman's laboratory investigates the role of the immune system on various aspects of cardiovascular disease progression, and she will deliver a talk entitled "The Intersection of Thrombosis and Immunity". Dr Mohlke's lab focuses on the mechanisms by which genetic variants affect cardiovascular disease risk, and she will deliver a talk entitled "Genetic effects on gene expression and cardiometabolic traits". We hope you can make it for these and many other great presentations. A final schedule of events will be sent to all registrants about a week before the symposium.

Abstract submission -  For those who wish to present data at the symposium, please submit an abstract by Friday, May 6^th. Abstracts should include a title, all authors, and are limited to 250 words (not including the title and authors). Note that you will need to have your abstract on hand during the registration process, and please indicate whether you wish to be considered for a limited number of oral presentations. Poster board dimensions are 3ft high by 4ft wide. Abstract submitters selected for oral presentations will be notified by Monday, May 9th.

Registration deadlines - The final day to register is Friday, May 13^th.

Social -  All symposium attendees are invited to the on-site social event that follows the symposium (from ~4-5:30).

COVID - Any changes to COVID protocols that affect the symposium will be communicated as quickly as possible.

Please address questions to IVB Trainee, Nathan Nelson-Maney, (nathan_nelson-maney@med.unc.edu)