Notice Number: NOT-RM-14-013

Key Dates
Release Date: April 9, 2014

Issued by
Office of Strategic Coordination (Common Fund)

Purpose

This Notice is to announce a workshop, open to the public, titled “Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa: Harmonizing H3Africa Genomic Epidemiological Teams and Tools” on May 30, 2014, in Stellenbosch, South Africa hosted by the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium.

The purpose of the workshop is to stimulate discussion among African researchers and enhance the understanding of how the relationships among the different phenotypic effects of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) can be targeted to reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases in Africa and the rest of the world.

The objectives of the workshop are as followed:
1. To review the current burden of the cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors in Africa.
2. To facilitate an appreciation of the pathophysiologic interrelationships among cardiometabolic diseases, certain infectious/inflammatory diseases (e.g. rheumatic heart disease, HIV), the heart, brain and kidneys. It is hoped that resulting collaborations will include refinement and harmonization of phenotypic characteristics, consideration of environmental factors, and the recruitment of large numbers of well-characterized patients with diverse diseases across the continent.
3. To enhance the research and surveillance aspects of the integrated CVDs quadrangle (the remaining three aspects are prevention, acute care and rehabilitation) aimed at reducing the rising burden of CVDs
4. To develop and strengthen collaborations among H3Africa teams as well as other African research teams exploring cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors using novel genomic epidemiological tools.
5. To enhance the understanding of the genetic underpinnings of common, major cardiovascular diseases in Africa and across the globe.

A poster session will be included to provide attendees an opportunity to present and discuss their works in the field that may facilitate future collaborations.

The NIH, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust and the African Society of Human Genetics, launched the H3Africa Consortium in 2010. H3Africa is designed to facilitate a contemporary research approach to the study of the genomic and environmental determinants of common diseases in Africa, with the long-term goal of improving the health of African populations. The goals of H3Africa are to enhance genomic expertise among African scientists, to contribute to infrastructure development (particularly biorepositories and a bioinformatics network), and to establish collaborations among African investigators.  More information about the H3Africa initiative, and a white paper with recommendations for the program, can be found at www.h3africa.org.

Meeting Details

Date: May 30, 2014
Time: 8:00a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Location: Spier Hotel and Conferencing
R310 Baden Powell Rd
Stellenbosch 7603, South Africa

Registration

General Registration:
We respectfully ask interested parties to inform the H3Africa meeting organizers of their intent to attend the workshop by registering at http://surveys.h3abionet.org/h3a2014cvd by April 28, 2014. This will enable the organizers to provide participants with any updates or additional logistics/information about the sessions. Depending on demand, a registration fee may be required. The NIH will not be able to provide funds for travel to the workshop.

Poster Registration:
If you would like to present a poster at the workshop, please indicate this on the Registration form and send along your abstract by May 1, 2014, to h3africa@nih.gov

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Jennifer Troyer, Ph.D.
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Phone: 301-496-7531
Email: h3africa@nih.gov

Quynh Nguyen
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Phone: 301-496-7531
Email: h3africa@nih.gov