CCBIO Special Seminar – Edward R. Smith
Edward R. Smith, Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children's Hospital, will give the talk "Learning from tumor to treat stroke" – showing how the cross-pollination between benchtop scientists and full-time clinicians led to a unique insight that a shared biological mechanism might be pathologic in one disease process - and helpful in another, seemingly unrelated, disease.
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Welcome to a CCBIO Special Seminar March 30 at 11.30!
Speaker: Edward R. Smith, Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children's Hospital
Title: “Learning from tumor to treat stroke”
Chair: Agnete Engelsen
When: March 30, 2023 at 11:30-12:30. A light lunch will be included after the lecture, remember to register.
Registration: at this link Deadline is March 27 at 11 AM (if you want the lunch)
Place: Auditorium B301, Sentralblokken 3rd floor, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen
No fee.
Short bio: Dr. Smith is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the R. Michael Scott endowed chair in neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. He serves as the co-director of the Cerebrovascular Surgery and Interventions Center, vice-chair of the #1-ranked department of pediatric neurosurgery in the US and leads a translational research laboratory in the Vascular Biology Program, focusing on development of non-invasive biomarkers and novel therapies for brain tumors and stroke. Dr. Smith heads one of the largest pediatric cerebrovascular programs in the country, and innovations from his research and clinical efforts have been incorporated in current national guidelines, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.
Abstract: Brain tumors and stroke are two of the leading causes of death in the United States and remain significant challenges to clinicians and scientists making efforts to develop treatments. Historically, translational research on these two conditions has been separate, with distinct areas of focus. However, with recent insights obtained from both the operating room and the laboratory, there has been a growing recognition that there may be shared mechanisms that are co-opted by both seemingly disparate diseases, offering novel insights relevant to potential therapeutic advances.
In this lecture, a review of the impact of axon guidance factors – proteins that influence the growth of the brain and associated vasculature in embryonic development – in the pathogenesis of brain tumors and stroke conditions in childhood is presented. Emphasis on the interconnected aspects of normal and pathologic growth programs in the central nervous system will be highlighted, with discussion centered on the importance of multidisciplinary research teams. At the conclusion of the lecture, the audience should be able to discuss the role of axon guidance factors in the pathogenesis of these diseases and identify opportunities for future research relevant to innovating new therapies.