The American Association of Extracellular Vesicles (AAEV) invites you to attend the organization’s annual meeting November 12-15 in the New York City area (Jersey City). This year’s meeting will feature more than 30 invited speakers from leading institutions, covering the latest advances in extracellular vesicles, translational research, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Below are descriptions for the second six of the confirmed speakers, with more speakers to be highlighted soon. The first set of six was announced at this link.
Partha K. Chandra, PhD Tulane University Investigating the Role of EVs in Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| Partha Chandra’s research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which extracellular vesicles (EVs) mediate pathophysiological changes in the brain microvasculature (MVs: composed of end arterioles, capillaries, and venules) in the context of sex, aging, and HIV infection. His laboratory has demonstrated that aging-associated oxidative stress induces adverse alterations in microvascular protein profiles, particularly proteins involved in mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis. The group also discovered that elevated levels of the neuroinflammatory protein fibrinogen in cerebral MVs disrupt mitochondrial fission/fusion dynamics and compromise blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity during aging. Current studies in Dr. Chandra’s laboratory investigate the relationship between circulating blood- and brain-derived EV populations (large EVs, small EVs/exosomes, and exomeres) and sex-, age-, and HIV-associated neuropathogenesis using samples from HIV-infected individuals, SIV/SHIV-infected rhesus macaques, HIV-infected humanized mice, and HIV-infected primary cells. Recently, his team reported that plasma EV proteomes from SHIV-infected rhesus macaques and HIV-infected individuals are associated with synaptic signaling dysfunction and neuropathological processes. The team further demonstrated that EVs released from HIV-infected cells impair mitochondrial function, leading to cerebrovascular endothelial dysfunction and BBB disruption. Dr. Chandra’s research program is also evaluating the preclinical therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived EVs as innovative interventions to mitigate sex-, aging-, and HIV-associated brain microvascular and BBB dysfunction. |
Saumya Das, MD, PhD Harvard Medical School EVs in Cardiometabolic Diseases: Peeling the Layers in Complex Phenotypes |
Saumya Das is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a faculty member of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service and the Co-Director of the Inherited Arrhythmic Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Das completed his undergraduate training at Harvard College, graduating summa cum laude in Biology. He completed his MD-PhD training at Harvard Medical School (in the Health Sciences and Technology pathway) with his PhD in neurobiology. Following that, Dr. Das completed his residency in internal medicine at MGH, and fellowship training in cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology also at MGH. His research has focused on signaling pathways in electrical and structural remodeling in models of heart failure and cardiometabolic disease with a focus on extracellular vesicles and their cargo RNAs as biomarkers and mediators of intercellular signaling. He has been the lead PI of several National Center for Advanced Translation (NCAT) grants to discover and validate RNA biomarkers of cardiac arrhythmias and heart remodeling in heart failure as part of the NIH Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium where he has served as a co-chair of the steering committee. He was inducted in the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2020 and also received an NIH EIA award (R35). He has served as a PI on NIDDK grants to investigate EV biology in the pancreas and type I DM. He has served as a principal investigator on several American Heart Association strategic network grants, is on the advisory board for American Association of Extracellular Vesicles and the meeting chair for the 2023 Annual Scientific Sessions for AAEV. Naveed Akbar, PhD University of Oxford Extracellular Vesicle Dysfunction in Genetic Cardiovascular Disease Naveed Akbar is Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Science at the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Somerville College. His research focuses on how EV-mediated molecular signaling regulates immune responses, inflammation, repair, and regeneration following acute vascular injuries and genetic cardiovascular disease. Dr Akbar is a British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellow, Co-Director of the Oxford–Cambridge BHF-funded DPhil programme Vascular Rewind, and Executive Chair for Programmes and Meetings on the Board of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV). He serves on national and international scientific advisory and editorial boards and has led Public Engagement through Oxford Pint of Science for 12 years.  Raj Kishore, PhD Temple University Muscle-Specific miR-499-5p Delivered by Small Extracellular Vesicles Impairs Endothelial Function and Ischemic Hindlimb Recovery In Diabetic Mice Raj Kishore earned his undergraduate degree in Biology and PhD in Immunology and Medical Genetics from University of Lucknow in India. He moved to the United States for postdoctoral training and trained under eminent cardiovascular scientist Dr. Douglas Losordo at Tufts University in Boston where he obtained his first faculty position. Dr. Kishore moved through the academic ladder first at Northwestern University and for the last 12 years at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Dr. Kishore is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences there. He also holds Vera J Goodfriend Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Research and is Laura H Carnell Professorship of Temple University. Dr. Kishore is internationally recognized scientist in cardiovascular diseases and has won numerous accolades. For more than 20 years, Dr. Kishore’s research program has been well-funded by NIH totaling over 40 million dollars, and he has authored over 160 manuscripts, most of them in leading Journals, and his scientific work is highly cited. Dr. Kishore has mentored over 40 scientists and many of his trainees are independent faculty throughout the World. Research in Dr. Kishore laboratory is focused on several specific areas of cardiovascular regenerative biology with the overall theme of identifying novel insights into cardiovascular disease mechanisms and the translational integration of mechanistic studies in relevant physiological models. The major focus of ongoing research encompasses investigations into multiple approaches to enhance cardiovascular repair and regeneration after post-myocardial infarction. These approaches include the use of adult and pluripotent stem cells, stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles/exosomes, anti-inflammatory cytokines, novel noncoding RNAs such as circular RNAs and microRNAs, and epigenetic modification of cells as some of the tools to enhance repair and regeneration of injured myocardium. His laboratory is currently investing significant efforts on developing stem cell-derived exosomes as novel cell-free alternatives to stem cell-based therapies for cardiac repair.  Alissa Weaver, MD, PhD Vanderbilt University Exosomes in HNSCC Metastasis. Alissa Weaver is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research. An elected Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Cell Biology, she is internationally recognized for her pioneering work on extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cancer biology. Major research themes in the Weaver laboratory include: –Mechanisms of RNA and protein cargo sorting into EVs –Regulation of exosome secretion –Functional roles of specific EV cargoes in tumor behaviors, especially metastasis –Broader contributions of EVs to tissue organization and cell-cell communication in health and disease Beyond biological discoveries, the Weaver Lab has developed widely used tools for the EV field, including live-cell reporters of exosome secretion and innovative EV flow cytometry approaches. In addition, as the founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Extracellular Vesicle Research, she has built a unique, internationally known hub for cutting-edge EV research.  Louise Laurent, MD, PhD University of California, San Diego Multi-Omic Analysis Reveals Relationships Among Source Cells, Extracellular Vesicles, and Non-Vesicular Extracellular Particles Louise Laurent is a Professor and the Co-Director of the Center for OB/GYN Research Innovation in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. She received her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology and her clinical fellowship training in Maternal Fetal Medicine at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on applying genomic and epigenomic methods to understanding the molecular regulation of placental trophoblast differentiation and function, identifying the molecular basis of placental dysfunction in human pregnancy, and discovering multi-omic biomarkers for prediction and diagnosis of pregnancy complications. More speaker announcements and program updates will be shared soon. We hope you will join us for an exciting meeting and take part in the scientific discussions at AAEV 2026. |