Click here for ECCR 2009 Final Programme and Abstract Book

Introduction
The 14th Annual Meeting of the European Council for Cardiovascular Research (ECCR) took place in La Colle sur Loup, near Nice, France, from 9th – 11th October 2009.

Over 150 participants represented the major research active groups in Europe and contributed to a programme noted for its outstanding scientific quality.

We were pleased to hold joint sessions this year with the Danish Cardiovascular Research Academy and the Groupe de Reflexion sur la Recherche Cardiovasculaire.

Members of the Council, presenters of critically refereed communications and a number of keynote lecturers contributed to a widely varying programme of topics ranging from molecular genetics and cellular biology to the pathophysiology of human vascular disease and clinical science. Three parallel Workshops were also held on the following subjects:

• Signalling Proteins: New Targets for Vascular Disease
• Pharmacogenomics and Novel Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Disease
• Pulmonary Hypertension

Keynote Lectures were given on the subjects of ‘Adaptive T cell immunity and atherosclerosis’ (Alain Tedgui, Paris), ‘The relationship between cardiovascular and chronic inflammatory disease’ (Wolf-Henning Boehncke, Frankfurt) and ‘Hypertension, vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease (Raj Kalaria, Newcastle-upon-Tyne).

In addition, we were pleased to welcome three speakers, whose attendance was supported by our Corporate Members, who gave presentations in the Clinical Session: Pawel Namsolleck (Berlin), Genevieve Nguyen (Paris) and Tabassame Simon (Paris).

In addition, delegates enjoyed a stimulating Debate entitled ‘Should pre-hypertension be treated’, with Hans Ibsen (Holbaek) speaking for the motion, and Peter Sever (London) giving the opposing view.

ECCR Prizes
The prize for the Best Oral Presentation to Dr. Sigurdur Sigurdsson (Herlev) for his presentation entitled ‘The bradykinin-antagonist HOE-140 abolishes the beneficial effect of both candesartan and enalaprilat on autoregulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF).

The prize for the Best Poster Presentation was awarded to Dr. Konstantin Kotliar (Munich) for his presentation entitled ‘Pulse-wave velocity in retinal arteries of healthy volunteers’.

Publication of Abstracts
Abstracts from the meeting have been published in Hypertension in November 2009 (Hypertension, Volume 54, Number 5, pages 1164-1187).

Scholarships
The Council and its members, who are all active researchers in either basic or clinical science, encourage other researchers to submit their work for presentation at the annual conference. In the last nine years, over 350 scholarships have been made available to support young investigators taking an active role in the meeting.

Executive Committee
The Executive Committee elected at the Business Meeting on 10th October 2009 is as follows:

Alun Hughes (President)
Michael Mulvany (President-Elect)
Ulrike Steckelings (Secretary)
Jan Danser (Treasurer)
Michael Bader
Daniel Cusi
Marisol Fernandez-Alfonso
Daniel Henrion
Sara-Joan Pinto-Sietsma
Ulf Simonsen

Corporate Members
The ECCR Executive Committee would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following Corporate Members who participated in the ECCR this year, therefore helping to improve coordination of research in Europe:

AstraZeneca
Canyon Pharmaceuticals AG
Danish Cardiovascular Research Academy (DaCRA)
Novartis Pharma S.A.S.

15th Annual Meeting
The 15th Annual Meeting of the ECCR will take place from 8th – 10th October 2010, again in Nice, France, and we look forward to another successful meeting.

Alun Hughes
President, ECCR