World-renowned cardiac researchers to speak at SDSU-hosted symposium

Prominent cardiac researchers will meet at San Diego State University in November to explore bold new approaches to treating the number one threat to U.S. adults - heart disease.

The Frontiers in Cardiovascular Regeneration International Symposium is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.

The annual symposium is a partnership between scientists at SDSU, the Medical University of South Carolina, and two Israeli entities located in Haifa, Israel - the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Rambam Medical Center.

Groundbreaking research

Researchers from these four universities and a half dozen others will attend the SDSU-hosted symposium to discuss new and groundbreaking discoveries in stem cell biology, developmental cell biology and other highly specialized fields of biomedical research that will benefit cardiac patients worldwide.

"One of the greatest challenges of modern medicine is to harness the power to heal when doctors can't coax the body to repair itself," said Mark Sussman, professor of biology and director of the new Integrated Regenerative Research Institute at SDSU.

"Scientists are meeting this challenge head-on with new knowledge and revolutionary findings in the rapidly developing field of regenerative research, which harnesses the powerful properties of stem cells and the healing potential they possess."

Members of institute include faculty-researchers from SDSU's departments of biology and engineering and from UCSD's medical center plus experts from San Diego's private sector. Their research is supported by millions in extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association and the California Institute of Regenerative Research.

IRRI' s investment in regenerative medicine includes a commitment to teaching the next generation of regenerative researchers at all levels, from undergraduate to post-doctoral to junior faculty.

SDSU's next generation of researchers will be in attendance at the symposium, and their research posters will be on display.

Source: San Diego State University