The five-year grant is among the first four Transatlantic Networks of Excellence in Cardiovascular Research to be funded by Fondation Leducq, a French institution that supports European-American collaborations in cardiovascular research. Edwin Bovill, M.D., professor and chair of pathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and an international expert in the field of blood-clotting disorders – known as thrombosis – is leader of the project.
Titled the Leducq International Network Against Thrombosis, the project's member institutions in the U.S. include the University of Vermont, the University of Washington, and the Oklahoma Medical Research Institute at the University of Oklahoma; and in Europe, the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), the University of Leuven (Belgium), and the University of Paris (France). Each institution specializes in a different, yet related, aspect of research on the role of thrombosis in arterial and venous vascular disease. According to Bovill, the focus of the grant is to encourage the exchange of ideas between institutions engaged in similar research and to facilitate faculty and students spending research time at the different institutions.
"Like all research studies, this program is a bit of an experiment," said Bovill, who also serves as U.S. coordinator for the project. "The grant will allow us to more effectively support what we have already been doing, which we hope will lead to the establishment of a sustainable model that amplifies the amount of scientific training and discovery taking place."
On December 10 through 12, 54 representatives from the institutions in the network gathered in Burlington, Vermont, to present data from their current studies and discuss which research, technology and facilities will be used for LINAT.
In addition to Bovill, site leaders in the project include European coordinator Frits Rosendaal, M.D., Ph.D., Leiden University; Bruce Psaty, M.D., Ph.D., University of Washington; Chuch Esmon, Ph.D., Oklahoma Medical Research Institute; Roger Lignen, Ph.D., University of Leuven; and Martine Aiach, Ph.D., University of Paris. For more information about Fondation Leducq, go to www.fondationleducq.org