Keynote Speakers

Professor Carlos Ferrario
Hypertension & Vascular Research Center
Wake Forest University Health Sciences, USA
RD Wright Lecturer 

Research Description:
Cardiovascular Medicine
Hemodynamics of Hypertension
Hormonal Regulation of Blood Pressure
Vascular Disease

Current Research:
Elucidation of the mechanisms of hypertensive vascular disease by combining laboratory efforts with clinical investigation utilizing molecular, genetic, and physiological approaches to the characterization of cardiac and blood vessel remodeling;

Study of the function of angiotensin peptides, with special emphasis on angiotensin-(1-7) in the regulation of blood pressure;

Analysis of the mechanism of action of antihypertensive drugs such as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II antagonists in reversing the cardiac and vascular sequelae of hypertension and the metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Ferrario has published 400 papers to-date in the field of hypertension and vascular disease. He serves as officer and member of many professional societies and has been bestowed multiple national and international awards.

He is the Founder of the Consortium for Southeastern Hypertension Control (COSEHC), an organization which has pioneered medical and educational efforts directed to reduce cardiovascular deaths in the South. 

 

Associate Professor David Sinclair
Department of Pathology
Harvard Medical School, USA
Austin Doyle Lecturer

Research Interests
In the past 10 years there has been a paradigm shift in our understanding of aging. Until the 1990s, almost all researchers believed that the aging process was too complex to find single genes or drugs that could slow the process. Then geneticists began to uncover mutations that could dramatically extend the lifespan of laboratory organisms such as yeast, worms, flies, and mice. How could this be? We now know that the rate of aging is not predetermined.It is naturally regulated by a few critical genes. One of the key regulators of aging that we study is a gene called SIR2. Extra copies of the SIR2 gene extend lifespan of diverse organisms, from yeast to flies. The gene family, known as the "sirtuins" seems to have evolved about one billion years ago to increase an organism's defenses during times when food was scarce. We use a variety of models and methods to understand sirtuin function and how to extend lifespan, including yeast, nematode worms, mammalian cell culture, biochemistry, and transgenic/knockout mice. We have identified small molecules that extend lifespan by activating sirtuins and are testing their ability to treat diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and neurodegeneration.

Our goals are:
(i) To have a comprehensive understanding of sirtuin regulation and function in mammals
(ii) To have tested whether it is possible to extend the lifespan of a mouse by modulating the sirtuins or a sirtuin regulator
(iii) To more fully understand which tissues are important for the regulation of mammalian lifespan.
(iv) To discover whether it is possible to create a molecule that can activate longevity pathways and thereby treat age-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and diabetes.

In a large article in Nature we showed that the red wine polyphenol, resveratrol, could prevent the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatic steosis and cancer in obese mice, with no decrease in body weight.

Please click here to view an article published in the New York Times. "New Hints Seen That Red Wine May Slow Aging".

Associate Professor Bruce Neal
The George Institute for International Health, Australia
Colin I Johnston Lecturer

Bruce Neal, MB ChB, PhD, FRCP, FAHA is a Senior Director at The George Institute for International Health, Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Sydney and Chair of the Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health. Bruce completed his medical training at Bristol University in the UK in 1990 and spent four years in clinical posts. Prior to taking up his position at the Institute in 1999, he worked as an epidemiologist at the Clinical Trials Research Unit in Auckland, New Zealand, where he completed a PhD in Medicine. Bruce has a specific and longstanding interest in blood pressure and has done important studies of both drug and non-drug interventions. His particular area of expertise is in large-scale trials, cohort studies and meta-analyses and he has worked hard to extend the reach of these projects worldwide, with a particular effort to include developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.