About the Workshop
Vascular malformations are a group of diseases that affect a large population world-wide, most of them children, with no effective curative therapy. Vascular malformations are localized collections of vessels that are abnormal in structure or number, and lead to perturbed blood flow. They are classified as capillary, venous, lymphatic, and arteriovenous malformations. Most are present from birth (congenital) and develop throughout the lifetime of affected individuals, worsening throughout life. Vascular malformations can appear as isolated vascular lesions or as part of complex genetic syndromes (PROS, Sturge-Weber, or PHTS, among others). The majority of patients are currently treated by invasive procedures to debulk or thrombose the vascular lesions. These procedures carry major risks of severe complications, including bleeding, infection and thrombosis; they are not fully effective, and usually allow or even encourage the VMs to recur. With the advent of next generation sequencing, the genetic causes of VMs are emerging. However, the applicability of this knowledge into targeted therapies for these patients stills needs to be met. This is partially due to the little understanding of the pathogenic biology behind these lesions. The aim of this workshop is to bring together established and junior fundamental scientists and clinicians interested on vascular malformations. We aim to create breakthroughs and critical discussion in defining the molecular and cellular mechanisms of vascular malformations towards the understanding and modelling of their pathogenesis. This will impact the way patients are managed, from diagnose to treatment, thanks to the participation of decision-maker clinicians. The program includes renowned experts from different types of vascular malformations (capillary, venous, arteriovenous and lymphatic vascular malformations) and from different life science areas (genetics, cellular biology, cellular transduction, life-imaging, and mouse and zebrafish modelling, among others) as well as clinical experts.
Session topics
- New Genetic Events in Vascular Malformations
- Molecular & Cellular Mechanisms in the Pathogenesis of Vascular Malformations
- Modelling Vascular Malformations
- Targeted Therapies for Vascular Malformations
About EMBO Courses and Workshops
EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender).
Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.
