Nearly 300 scientists and physicians from around the USA and world attended the first annual meeting of the American Association of Extracellular Vesicles in Boston Octobe 27-29. They were rewarded with an awesome array of oral presentations and poster sessions and exhibits by industry in the accelerating field of extracellular vesicle (EV) research and applications. Meeting co-chairs Saumya Das, MD, PhD, Mass General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and Kate McAndrews, PhD, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, together with the organizing committee, assembled a daunting array of distinguished speakers and poster presenters. The organizing committee included Ke Cheng, PhD, Columbia University; Steve Gould, PhD, Johns Hopkins; Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center; Louise Laurent, MD, PhD, UC San Diego; Robert Raffai, PhD, UCSF; Tijana Talisman, PhD, City of Hope; Junjie Xiao, PhD, Shanghai University; and Kaiyue Zhang, PhD, North Carolina State University.There were almost 40 invited speakers who covered the breadth and depth of rapidly expanding EV research and applications during the three-day meeting.
The meeting began on Friday with opening remarks by AAEV President Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Cancer Biology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center who focused on needs for extensive collaboration and the progress of young investigators. Then followed an introduction by the meeting co-chairs Dr. Das and Dr. McAndrews who set the stage for an exciting three days of world-class science focused on EVs and their wide influence in many areas of science and medicine.
Friday’s program included four stimulating sessions. Session 1: Cutting-Edge Technologies to Study EVs and Their Contents. Session 2: EVs in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases. Session 3: EVs As Novel Therapeutics I. Session 4: EV Biogenesis and Function. There were also two sessions of lightning talks where the presenters gave concise 3-minute descriptions of their work. The day ended with a reception and poster session 1.
Saturday’s program began with a Forum on Advancing EV Research moderated by AAEV President Kalluri and featuring three speakers: Michael Graner, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz, who spoke on “Historical Perspectives on EV Research: from ASEMV to AAEV;” Patricia Labosky, PhD, Program Leader, NIH Common Fund, who spoke on “ExRNA Communication Common Fund Program;” and Ke Cheng, PhD, Columbia University, Editor-in-Chief of Extracellular Vesicle, who spoke on “Extracellular Vesicle: an Open And Inclusive Forum for Your EV Research and Voice.”
The Forum was followed by three sessions. Session 5: Immune System and EV-Mediated Intercellular Communication. Session 6: EVs in Disease I. Session 7: Emerging EV Biomarkers in Health and Disease: Pathways to Therapies. Again, there were also two sessions of lightning talks and Poster Session 2.
The meeting closed on Sunday with two sessions in the morning. Session 8: EVs in Disease II. Session 9: EVs As Novel Therapeutics II.
The meeting highlighted the extraordinary and accelerating progress that has taken place in the EV field.
Sponsors
The meeting would not have been possible without the contributions of the sponsors. The presenting Diamond sponsor was PranaX “Breathing Life into Wellness Through Regenerative Science.” The Gold sponsor was EVOX. Silver sponsors were Beckman Coulter, Biological Dynamics, Cytek, EXODUS, IZON, nanofcm, Norgen Biotek Corp., Particle Metrix, and Qiagen. Bronze sponsors included Cellarcus; Elsevier; XSOME; Biotech; Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids (EVCNA), a new journal; Spectradyne; and Theracyte ExoBoost.
by Michael D. O’Neill