The LAM Foundation

2012 Lymphangioleiomyomatosis

International Research Conference

Friday, April 20 – Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Westin, Downtown Cincinnati

We hope you’re making plans to join us for the 2012 LAM International Research Conference! This meeting will bring together researchers from diverse disciplines to discuss the scientific basis of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease that affects young women. The conference will integrate the ideas of established LAM clinicians and investigators with other top scientists who have parallel interests in fields that are relevant to LAM, including molecular genetics, cellular signaling, pathology, smooth muscle biology, lung remodeling, and cell biology. Our objectives are to discuss what is known, identify the most critical new research directions, and to move the field forward.

Cosponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) every year since 1998, the conference includes a basic/clinical science track, a concurrent educational track for patients, and a roundtable discussion from 8-12 AM on Sunday. There will also be an Awards Banquet on Friday night, and a Breath of Hope Gala on Saturday night to raise funds for LAM research. We expect over two hundred LAM patients and family members and over one hundred physicians and scientists.

Dr. Brendan Manning (Harvard Medical School) will chair the Basic Science Track and Dr. Stephen Hammes (University of Rochester) will chair the Clinical Science Track.  The meeting will focus on molecular imaging, role of estrogen action in LAM pathogenesis, biomarker development, mechanisms of lung destruction, and signaling pathways that are promising as therapeutic targets. Confirmed speakers to date include Robert Abraham, PhD (Wyeth Research), Lewis Cantley, PhD (Harvard Medical School), Mitch Dowsett, PhD (Royal Marsden Hospital), Karen Cichowski, PhD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), Meilan Han, MD, MS (University of Michigan), Peter Houghton, PhD (Nationwide Children’s Hospital), Carol Lange, PhD (University of Minnesota), Ellis Levin, MD (University of California, Irvine Medical Center), Richard Pietras, MD, PhD (University of California, Los Angeles), David Sabatini, MD, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Charles Strange, MD (Medical University of South Carolina), Cheryl Walker, PhD (MD Anderson Cancer Center), and Jane Yu, PhD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital). The 2012 conference will also be a forum to discuss progress on the “ATS Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of LAM” with both patients and clinicians.

Attendees will enjoy wine and cheese during a lively poster discussion. All abstracts will be posted online and will remain on display at the conference from Thursday to Saturday afternoon.  A cash prize of $200 each will be awarded for posters judged to be the most exciting in the areas of clinical, translational, and basic research.

Executive Travel will be handling registration, lodging and travel this year. You may contact them at 866.800.5258.  The cost of registration for the LAM Conference is $395 for medical professionals and $295 for trainees, graduate students, medical students and residents.  Registration includes all meals from Friday morning through Sunday breakfast, including the Saturday evening Breath of Hope Gala.

We are confident that this meeting will be inspiring and productive.  We look forward to seeing you there!

Click here for a tentative Scientific Schedule

Click here for the Abstract Form