20th IVBM
Helsinki, Finland
June 3-7, 2018
Vasculata 2018
St. Louis, MO
July 23 - 26, 2018
Vascular Biology
Newport, RI
October 14-18, 2018
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Congratulations to
Angiogenesis!
The new 2016 impact factor for
Angiogenesis has increased to
5.253*.
* 2016 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics, 2017)
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When is the last time you visited the NAVBO Web Site?
Most likely you visit it when reviewing a meeting program, or submitting an abstract. I do hope you will visit it frequently and take advantage of the resources we offer. For example -
The NAVBO Career Center is also an excellent resource. If you are looking for a postdoctoral position, consider uploading your resume and set up your account to receive alerts when new postings become available. Go to www.navbo.org/jobs for more information. And, if you are seeking postdocs, faculty members, etc. post the job on the Career Center. Members receive a $150 discount on all "packages" - that means the Basic Package is free!
You'll also find under the
Resources menu -
Electronic publications submitted by NAVBO members
Calendar of Events - these are non-NAVBO meetings that may be of interest to you. If you're working on a meeting, send the information to
membership@navbo.org and we'll get it posted in the calendar.
Vascular Biology Publications Alert - this archive contains versions of the
Alerts with hyperlinks to each paper (a current member login is needed).
Advocacy for Science - we want to keep you informed of policies that may affect your day to day operations. From time to time, we will also ask for a call to action. Keep up to date on what's happening by visiting this page periodically. We are provided with current information by
Research!America.
The
News often contains pertinent information from NIH.
And finally there are a series of
Helpful Links to various other sources including journals, other societies, academic institutions, career related sites, etc. If you would like to add to this listing, send us a link to include.
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Ill Communication
by Michael Dellinger,
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Music has always been an important part of my life. I enjoy listening to songs and trying to find the message in lyrics. When I started my lab in 2014, I was the only person in the lab for approximately two months. This was a chance for me to play my favorite albums in the lab, and I listened to "Ill Communication" by the Beastie Boys at least once every other day. As people joined my group, I discovered that I had ill communication. Sometimes I had a hard time getting my ideas across to the people in my lab. Below are a few suggestions that have helped me become a better communicator and a more efficient and effective leader.
Tailor your interactions with the members of your lab to suit their specific needs. Your lab is going to be filled with people with different backgrounds and levels of experience. Take the time to have individual meetings with the members of your lab. Over time you will discover who in your group finds verbal instructions useful and who in your group finds a combination of verbal and written instructions beneficial. Taking this time will ensure that you and the members of your lab are on the same page and that projects move in the right direction.
Listen to the people in your lab. Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot by just watching." You can also hear a lot by just listening. Sometimes you will hear bad news. If a person in your lab tells you that there is a specific problem, take action. Other times, you will hear excitement over a new result. Listening to what the people in your lab say will help you customize your interactions with them. It is also a lot of fun learning about the people who are spending their days (and nights) working hard in your lab.
Regularly review lab notebooks. One way the people in your lab communicate with you is through their lab notebooks. This form of communication is critical, especially when the people are no longer in your lab. It is essential that you can easily find descriptions and details of experiments. Take a little time each week to really read lab notebooks and make sure that you understand what is written.
Take a course on grant writing. I took a course on grant writing during my first year at UT Southwestern. It was one of the best courses I have ever taken and I regularly refer to the materials I received as part of the course. If you have a chance, take a course on grant writing. This will help you communicate your ideas in a coherent manner in grants and papers. I've also been able to join a group at UT Southwestern that meets regularly to discuss grants. This has helped me become a better writer and reviewer.
Contact and interact with foundations and societies. In addition to being a member of the faculty of UT Southwestern, I am also the director of research of the Lymphatic Malformation Institute (
www.lmiresearch.org) and I regularly interact with the Lymphangiomatosis & Gorham's Disease Alliance (
www.lgdalliance.org). I have found that foundations and societies are always looking for help to carry out their respective missions. Reach out to foundations and societies that are relevant to your area of research. Let these people know who you are and offer your assistance. This could lead to opportunities to speak to the patient community and other rewarding experiences.
It can take time to become an effective communicator. But by putting the time in to hone your communication skills, you will find it easier to realize your ideas, lead your group, and inspire the next generation of scientists in your lab.
For more lessons learned, see
http://www.navbo.org/resources/lessons-learned
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The Post-PhD Hangover?
"No one prepares you for the post-PhD PTSD, " notes Jessica J. Williams, Ph.D, Assistant Director of the Center for Digital and Visual Literacy at Agnes Scott College, in a recent post on LinkedIn, "but remembering the months of pervasive and palpable sadness that followed the completion of my doctoral degree, it really wasn't funny at all." Dr. Williams recounts with courageous candor her own bouts of anxiety and depression in the year following her graduation, struggling to distinguish job-related dissatisfaction with malaise of a more internal origin. Was the PhD worth the heroic effort it took to finish? With so many people obtaining graduate and professional degrees, how can one stand out? Why is the sense of satisfaction as a new PhD not proportional to the blood, sweat and tears invested? She concludes: "Setting my own parameters for happiness and sharing my story without shame or fear that somehow it should be anything other than what it is."
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The Lab of Dr. Michael Dellinger
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Welcome to our Newest Member:
Jay Naik, University of New Mexico
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Recent Publications by NAVBO Members
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Journal of Clinical Investigation
Lymphedema, the most common lymphatic anomaly, involves defective lymphatic valve development; yet the epigenetic modifiers underlying lymphatic valve morphogenesis remain elusive. Read more Somatic second hit mutation of RASA1 in vascular endothelial cells in capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation
European Journal of Medical Genetics
Capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation (CM-AVM) is an autosomal dominant vascular disorder that is associated with inherited inactivating mutations of the RASA1 gene in the majority of cases. Read more Dynamic stroma reorganization drives blood vessel dysmorphia during glioma growth
EMBO Molecular Medicine
Glioma growth and progression are characterized by abundant development of blood vessels that are highly aberrant and poorly functional, with detrimental consequences for drug delivery efficacy. Read more Clearance of beta-amyloid is facilitated by apolipoprotein E and circulating high-density lipoproteins in bioengineered human vessels
eLIFE
Amyloid plaques, consisting of deposited beta-amyloid (Aβ), are a neuropathological hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Read more Notch activation is required for downregulation of HoxA3-dependent endothelial cell phenotype during blood formation
PLoS One
Hemogenic endothelium (HE) undergoes endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition (EHT) to generate blood, a process that requires progressive down-regulation of endothelial genes and induction of hematopoietic ones. Read more Transcellular vesicular transport in epithelial and endothelial cells: Challenges and opportunities
Traffic
Vesicle-mediated transcellular transport or simply "transcytosis" is a cellular process used to shuttle macromolecules such as lipoproteins, antibodies, and albumin from one surface of a polarized cell to the other. Read more SR-BI Mediated Transcytosis of HDL in Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells Is Independent of Caveolin, Clathrin, and PDZK1
Frontiers in Physiology
The vascular endothelium supplying the brain exhibits very low paracellular and transcellular permeability and is a major constituent of the blood-brain barrier. Read more |
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Has peer review lost its teeth in academic journals?
As scientists with a desire and need to publish findings from our research, we rely on the integrity of the review process to maintain confidence in the rigor of published work-ours and that of our colleagues. With the explosion in the number and aggressive tactics of pay-to-publish journals, is that faith justified? Patrick Kiger writes that academicians "...fear that many of the publications, which provide access to information online without subscriptions and depend upon accepting articles to make income, have an incentive to publish studies regardless of whether they're credible and scientifically sound." Moreover, the peer-review process may have been weakened to the point that it has become difficult to "...prevent a lot of dubious findings from getting into circulation."
Academic Bullying - Past, Present, and Future
Faculty Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully Culture and What to Do About It, by Darla Twale and Barbara DeLuca from the University of Dayton, was published in 2008, but, judging by the tone of reader comments available, has not diminished in relevance. The publisher (Jossey-Bass) notes that "this important book addresses the prevalence of faculty incivility, camouflaged aggression, and the rise of an academic bully culture in higher education. The authors show how to recognize a bully culture that may form as a result of institutional norms, organizational structure, academic culture, and systemic changes. Filled with real-life examples, the book offers research-based suggestions for dealing with this disruptive and negative behavior in the academic workplace." Rare is the member of the academic community who could not offer up a few case studies from their own experience or observation.
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This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Michael Dellinger, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Find out more about Dr. Dellinger and his lab at 
