Letter from the Editors

Authors: Jennifer L Hall Nabil Dib

Publish Date: 2009/01/24

Volume: 2, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-1

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Abstract

Welcome to the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research JCTR publishes original peerreviewed papers and review articles in the areas of clinical trials and preclinical research imaging genetics and genomics devices and education Please see the scope page for a full review of the focus areasWe continue to grow Our editorial board has increased to over 60 members in the second year We have forged a commitment with the FDA to contribute articles to JCTR These articles will focus on the strategic plan of the FDA and how this impacts the field of cardiovascular research The National Society of Genetic Counselors and the American Board of Genetic Counseling have committed to publishing articles to increase awareness and education on the role of genetics and cardiovascular diseaseIn this inaugural issue of 2009 we chose to feature a section “Imaging in Cardiovascular Medicine” These articles review the current literature on the use of intravascular ultrasound to characterize the composition of coronary vessels MRI to characterize metabolic flux in the heart and cardiac echo in stem cell therapy In addition a review by Asch and Weissman highlights the different diagnostic approaches to assess myocardial viability in chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each Finally Dennis Vaccaro’s group enriches the discovery of nanoparticles as tools to label cellsIn this inaugural issue we are also featuring a published synopsis of The Fifth International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Applied Cardiovascular Biotechnology held in Madrid Spain These articles highlight many of the stateoftheart talks at this meeting focused in the areas of both stem cell therapy and applied cardiovascular biology Articles include immunogenicity and allogenicity of stem cells and bone marrow for cell therapy as well as biological implications of left ventricular assist devices and periinfarct pacing to change the course of myocardial remodeling in patients An overview of the upcoming 2009 International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Applied Cardiovascular Biotechnology in Spain can be found at http//wwwcardiovascularcelltherapycom Webcasts from this meeting can be found at http//wwwcardiovascularcelltherapycom/

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