Tuesday, January 31, 2006

First National Platelet Colloquium Brings Together the "Best-of-the-Best"
By Julie McKeel

The first National Platelet Colloquium was held on January 19-21, 2006 in Miami, Florida. Co-chairs for the colloquium were Richard C. Becker, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, and Director, Cardiovascular Thrombosis Center, and Steve Steinhbul, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Cardiovascular Education and Research, University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

The inaugural program attracted distinguished scholars and academic thought leaders representing the disciplines of platelet biology, vascular biology, laboratory medicine, and clinical research, as well as cardiovascular section directors and scientists from several of the world's largest and most innovative pharmaceutical and device companies.

The National Platelet Colloquium was developed as an interactive forum to facilitate discussions and integrated research agendas among basic scientists, clinician-scientists, and industry in several key areas:

• platelet biology performance measurement tools, and their translation to platelet-directed drug dosing
• patient response variability
• clinical outcomes
• future drug development strategies

"Dr. Steinhubl and I set out to assemble the "best-of-the-best" in the fields of platelet biology and cardiovascular disease," said Becker, "with a specific objective to translate current information to patient care and establish clear research agendas for scientific advance."

According to Becker, the organizers agreed that the current knowledge base was strong and helped to establish the required platform for drug development and clinical trials; however, several lingering barriers to defining optimal, patient-specific treatment exist and needed to be addressed in a coordinated and scholarly fashion.

The DCRI's Dr. Peter Berger, Director of Interventional Cardiology, also participated in the event.

The program's proceedings will be published in the Journal of The American College of Cardiology.