A symposium addressing advances in vascular biology will take place today at RCSI. Hosted by the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology (ICVB) at RCSI, the symposium will address issues including the future use of laboratory genomics in hemostasis diagnosis and treatment, novel insights into platelet clearance biology, vascular biology and ageing, and managing major bleeding.

Speaking ahead of today’s symposium, Professor James O’Donnell, Director, ICVB, RCSI, said: “Today’s symposium brings together an outstanding programme of national and international experts who will address a broad range of themes within the vascular research field. The key objective of the meeting is to stimulate interest amongst young Irish clinicians and scientists.”

Officially launched in March 2017, the ICVB has made significant progress in linking together Irish clinicians and scientists with an interest in vascular biology. The ICVB network already includes more than 50 individual Principal Investigators. These researchers are affiliated to 10 different Irish universities and more than 20 different academic teaching hospitals. Evidence of the success of this network is reflected in the fact that the ICVB has delivered more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in the past year.

Welcoming the participants to RCSI, Professor Cathal Kelly, CEO, RCSI, said: “For more than 230 years, RCSI has pursued an education and research mission in support of better patient care and we are committed to reimaging the delivery of that mission over the decades ahead. Over the next four years, we will develop a Centre of Excellence in Vascular Biology, addressing key challenges in vascular biology with a focus on clinical and patient-centred research. We will support our researchers to maximise their contribution to healthcare knowledge; we will integrate world-class research into learning and teaching; and we will invest in advanced infrastructure and services.

“Congratulations to Professor James O’Donnell and his team in the Irish Centre for Vascular Biology for their efforts in organising today’s symposium and for their work to date to advance the research agenda in vascular biology,” added Professor Kelly.

ICVB is grateful for the support of a number of sponsors for today’s symposium: Leo Pharma, Shire, Sobi, Roche, Lab Unlimited and MyBio.

RCSI is ranked among the top 250 (top 2%) of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2018) and its research is ranked first in Ireland for citations. It is an international not-for-profit health sciences institution, with its headquarters in Dublin, focused on education and research to drive improvements in human health worldwide. RCSI is a signatory of the Athena SWAN Charter.