| Autumn is almost upon us and that mean it is time for the Annual G-CAN International Research Symposium! The 8th Annual Symposium will be held October 21-22, 2022. With travel restrictions lifting and more venues opening to live events, we have decided on a “hybrid” version of our annual meeting this year that allows members to participate either in person or virtually. Face-to-face sessions are to be held at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town, minutes from Reagan International Airport and Washington D.C.. This will allow those who would like to travel the opportunity to attend in person. However, those who are unable to travel have the option of attending virtually as in the past two years; presentations will be live-streamed and speakers will be able to answer questions and participate in breakout sessions either in person or via Zoom.
This year’s meeting has an exciting line-up of speakers and presentations on the most recent gout and crystal-associated diseases research. A full agenda of the symposium topics and speakers can be found here. The two days of general sessions will be held on Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd.
General Session 1 on Friday will feature the Year in Review, the G-CAN Presidential Emerging Career Investigator Awards, the Ralph Schumacher Award Lecture, Early Career Investigator abstract presentations and the G-CAN Lifetime Achievement Awards. Focus Group network session breakouts will also be offered: CPPD and BCP Crystal Arthropathies, Genetics of Crystal Arthropathy and Imaging of Crystal Arthropathies.
General Session 2 on Saturday includes mini symposia on CPP and BCP Crystal Arthropathy and Gout and Hyperuricemia, as well as the G-CAN Gold Medal Investigator Award Lecture, the Early Career Investigator Select Awardee Lectures, and “The Great Debate: Yes or No: Urate biology is a productive therapy target to preserve renal function.” Day 2 also includes presentations on hyperuricemia and gout genomics and hyperuricemia-independent gout phenotypes.
For those who are able to travel, we have added several social events to provide even more opportunities to meet and network, including a “Speed Dating/Meet the Directors” session prior to the meeting start, a Friday cocktail reception after the first general session, and a Saturday night banquet with a karaoke post-party.
Registration is FREE to all G-CAN members. For more information on the symposium or the meeting venue, visit the symposium website or contact Rebecca Snyders Hill, Executive Director, rebeccah@g-can.org.
| Along with the Board of Directors, Hyon and I wish to congratulate this year’s winners of the Ralph H. Schumacher Memorial Early Career Investigator Award as well as the recipients of this year’s Early Career Investigator awards.
The recipient of this year’s Ralph H. Schumacher Memorial Early Career Investigator Award is Concepcion Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez has a B.S. in Biochemistry from New Mexico State University and is a graduate student in Pharmacology at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California. Mentored by Drs. David Gonzalez and Robert Terkeltaub, she is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences.
Ms. Sanchez’s abstract, “Sustained xanthine oxidase inhibitor treat to target urate lowering therapy rewires a tight inflammation protein interactome detected by quantitative multiplex serum proteomics,” received the highest score of the 20 abstract submissions. She will present her findings in a lecture at the 8th Annual G-CAN Research Symposium October 22, 2022.
Given that all presentations are now virtual, as well as live, we have changed the format and the name of our Early Career Investigator Awards. The top seven abstracts were selected for SPARK presentations (Select Presentations of Abstracts Keynotes), and 12 for live Early Career Abstract presentations (formerly posters). All speakers will be invited to submit their abstracts to the new G-CAN journal; Gout, Urate and Crystal Deposition Disease.
Those receiving SPARK awards are:
- Sandy ElSayed; Chapman University School Of Pharmacy, USA. Protein phosphatase-2A regulates xanthine oxidase activity in macrophages and influx of inflammatory monocytes in a murine gout model
- Isidoro Cobo; University of California, San Diego, USA. Epigenetic activation of the lysosomal biogenesis program by collaborative binding with TFEB is required for appropriate response of macrophages to monosodium urate crystals
- Edoardo Cipolletta; University of Nottingham, UK. Risk of venous thromboembolism after gout flares
- Orsolya Gaal; Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania. Gout-associated SNP at the IL1RN-IL1F10 region is functionally linked to altered cytokine production in PBMCs of patients with gout and controls
- Panagiota Drivelegka; University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Allopurinol use and risk of acute coronary syndrome in patients with incident gout: a population-based study in Sweden
- Jean Liew; Boston University School of Medicine, USA. The association of intra-articular mineralization on CT and radiographic chondrocalcinosis with location-specific cartilage loss on MRI in knee OA: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study
- Leanne Chen; University of Auckland, NZ. Changes in tophus composition during urate-lowering therapy: A dual energy CT study
The SPARK winners will present their abstracts during the October 22 General Session. The Early Career Abstract presentations will be at the first general session October 21. |
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