OMRF to host international symposium on heart disease

Oklahoma City, May 23, 2008 – Top cardiovascular researchers from around the world will converge in Oklahoma City this week to discuss advances and emerging therapies for thrombosis, a primary cause of heart disease.

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, home to some of the world’s experts in this field, will play host to the Thrombosis Symposium on May 29. The event will bring dozens of scientists from Europe and across the U.S. together to discuss the latest research on a condition responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year.

In thrombosis, a clot forms inside a blood vessel, obstructing blood flow in the circulatory system and often causing a stroke or pulmonary embolism. OMRF’s Naomi Esmon, Ph.D., the conference organizer, said the symposium will provide a collaborative environment for scientists and trainees to talk about ongoing research and make connections for new experiments.

Charles Esmon, Ph.D., whose work in thrombosis has led to a pair of FDA-approved drugs, said the conference will play a key role in advancing research that holds the potential for wide-reaching therapeutic impact.

“There are about 650,000 heart disease deaths annually in this country, most of which are thrombotic,” said Esmon, who holds the Lloyd Noble Chair in Cardiovascular Biology at OMRF. “And as people grow older, the threat of thrombosis grows.”

The symposium is sponsored by the Leducq International Network Against Thrombosis, an international collaboration involving OMRF and five other U.S. and European institutions. In addition to presentations from OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D., and other OMRF researchers, it will feature lectures by scientists from Harvard University, the University of Michigan, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and several other U.S. and European research institutions.

About OMRF
OMRF (omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human disease. Chartered in 1946, its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease.

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