PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT We request support for the Annual Summer 2019 Symposium “Integrative approaches to complex cardiovascular diseases” of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council (BCVS) of the American Heart Association (AHA). The BCVS Scientific Sessions annual scientific conference has been partially supported by the NHLBI since 2005. Ongoing support from NHLBI has helped make this meeting the “go to” conference for cardiovascular biology and disease. The conference will be held from July 29th to August 1st, 2019, in Boston, Massachusetts at the downtown Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center. The program co-chairs are Drs. Sakthivel Sadayappan (University of Cincinnati), Loren Wold (Ohio State) and Jil Tardiff (University of Arizona), all of whom have been working closely with the BCVS Chair (myself, Joseph C. Wu, Stanford) and their Program Committee to plan and execute this important conference. The Specific Aims for this conference are to: 1) Showcase the frontiers of basic and translational cardiovascular science, 2) Enhance collaborations among investigators with diverse geographic locations, disciplines and career stages, 3) Catalyze new ideas and research directions, 4) Inspire the next generation of researchers. The agenda represents an exciting meeting with more than thirty sessions presented over 4 days, including a Keynote by Dr. Christine Seidman (Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine, Harvard), whose basic cardiovascular research program and experience bridge academia and industry. Young investigators and other trainee cardiovascular scientists will be highlighted through invited talks occurring in each session and at poster presentations. The conference will have more than 35% women faculty, reflecting our commitment to improve gender balance among speakers. We are also offering (by request) family care at. Finally, a novel aspect of the meeting will be three boot camps focused on i) how to effectively interact with the NIH, ii) how to talk to a clinician from a research point of view, and iii) the top five techniques emerging to advance cardiovascular research. We have also invited the new Editor-in-Chief of Circulation Research, Dr. Jane Freedman (University of Massachusetts), to host a symposium of her choice. The budget requested in this application constitutes approximately 7% of the total meeting budget. Support gained this application will be used exclusively to fund fifteen Cardiovascular Outreach Awards and fifteen Young Investigator Travel Awards.

NARRATIVE This proposal highlights the annual Scientific Conference of the Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council of the American Heart Association- Scientific Sessions 2019: “Integrative approaches to complex cardiovascular diseases” to be held from July 29 to August 1, 2019, in Boston, Massachusetts. This meeting, which attracts a diverse group of researchers at all levels from US as well as abroad, convenes basic and translational cardiovascular scientists with the common goal of discovering pathways to cardiovascular therapeutics and promoting cardiovascular health. It has emerged as the “go to” meeting for intra- and interdisciplinary cross- fertilization of ideas and incorporation of new approaches from the general cardiovascular research scientific community and plays a pivotal role in the training of junior scientists, under-represented minorities and/or women, and other trainees, thus optimizing the future return of investment in medical research by public funds.