President’s Message

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

I’d like to share with you some exciting developments at ISSVA.  We have grown from a small club to a historic 377 members.  With that number of members we are still a relatively small organization, but our membership continues to increase steadily, and we all know that interest in vascular anomalies worldwide is increasing including an increase in the number of multidisciplinary vascular anomalies groups that have formed. Our Executive Director, Justin Dodge, continues to do a tremendous job in keeping track of membership applications, dues, and administrative matters.  Our board is very engaged and we have frequent email communications and several conference calls to make sure we stay on track.

As most of you know, the 23^rd biennial ISSVA workshop will be held May 12 -15, 2020 in Vancouver, BC, Canada and will be held at the beautiful Westin Bayshore Vancouver, which sits near the water overlooking the mountains.  This will be the first time since 2008 that the Workshop will be held in North America. Please mark it on your calendar if you haven’t already.  Our local hosts, including Drs. Jugpal Arneja and Gerald Legiehn are assisting us with planning local social events, while Justin Dodge and his colleague Leah Skogman will be helping to manage the conference logistics.  Based on the attendance in Amsterdam we expect at least 700-800 attendees, possibly more. The KEY DATES for registration and abstract submission are posted below and are also available on the ISSVA 2020 website! 

Three other exciting new initiatives have been central to ISSVA’s (and the Board’s) activities:

1. Journal of Vascular Anomalies: We are close to finalizing a contract with Wolters Kluwer to launch a Journal of Vascular Anomalies.  Many of us have longed for and recognize the need for such a journal.  The Board unanimously approved going forward with the development of a journal with an anticipated start date of mid-2020, and selected Gresham Richter MD to be its editor-in-chief. You’ll be hearing much more about the journal in the coming months, and we hope you will contribute high-quality articles and become reviewers for the journal.  The journal will be an Open Access journal, which is the only model most publishers now use for new journals.  This means that there will be fees for publication of accepted articles.  Via ISSVA strategic support and charitable contributions from loyal members, however, we hope to keep these charges as low as possible so that we get lots of high-quality submissions.  There will be a discount for being a member, and special discounting for contributors from developing countries.  The good news about Open Access publishing is that once published, anyone can have access to the content we publish via the internet.
    
2. Annual Meeting: Another major initiative is the development of ISSVA meetings every year.  After several years of discussion we will, in 2021, launch an “off-year” ISSVA meeting, with the inaugural meeting to be held in Boston, MA, USA, in part to honor our ISSVA founder John Mulliken, MD.  This will be different from our long-standing workshop.  It will emphasize updates, debates, and panel discussions rather than the biennial Workshop which features scientific abstracts and the presentation of new observations and original work.  Our Vice-President, Tony Penington, MD and a capable group of colleagues on the Meetings Committee, will be in charge of planning this meeting.  We welcome your suggestions for the meeting and look forward to having as many of you as possible attend.  Because of its format, emphasizing information useful in the day-to-day practice seeing patients with vascular anomalies, this will be a great meeting for newer ISSVA members or non-members who are becoming interested in vascular anomalies.
    
3. 2022 ISSVA Workshop: After many months of background research and deliberation, the Board has picked Madrid, Spain as the site for the 2022 ISSVA Workshop.  We are confident that Madrid, as a major capitol city and hub for numerous international flights, will be a great location for an ISSVA meeting.  Our local hosts will include ISSVA Treasurer Juan Carlos Lopez-Gutierrez and other members of the Spanish Vascular Anomalies community.  In making this decision we considered several other suggested sites.  Many of us had hoped that we could have this 2022 meeting in Asia.  After some discussions, our Chinese colleagues helped us to identify Hong Kong as a possible site.  Despite the best efforts of many, we could not find a suitable time and space for the Workshop in Hong Kong.  In hindsight, I think we would have all felt very uneasy had we picked Hong Kong, given the events of the past few months.  With its growing vascular anomalies community and huge population, Asia remains on our “wish list” for future meetings and the board will continue to consider this as we move forward beyond 2022.

In sum, we are busy at working on your behalf, as the membership, in planning for the future of ISSVA.  We are excited and optimistic about it.  I look forward to seeing all of you next May!

Warmest regards,

Ilona J. Frieden, MD
President, ISSVA

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2018-2020 ISSVA Board of Directors

Ilona Frieden, President

Josée Dubois, President Elect


Laurence M Boon, Past President

Tony Penington, Vice President

Gresham Richter, Secretary
Juan-Carlos Lopez-Gutierrez, Treasurer

Francine Blei, Scientific Committee Chair
Denise Adams, Member at Large
Michel Wassef, Member at Large

ISSVA 2020 (Vancouver)

Be sure to mark your calendar for the ISSVA 2020 Workshop in Vancouver, BC, Canada. As details are finalized they will be available on the ISSVA website, the newsletter and through ISSVA’s social media channels.

Visit the ISSVA 2020 (Vancouver) Website

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Keynote Speaker: Lewis Cantley, PhD

We are honored to have Professor Lewis Cantley as our Keynote Speaker for the ISSVA 2020 Workshop. Professor Cantley holds the position as the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College, Professor of Cancer Biology in Medicine.

Dr. Cantley is a cell biologist and biochemist noted for the discovery of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway in 1984, and further studies leading to the development of PI3K pathway inhibitors and metabolic regulation. His talk will focus on the relevance of these discoveries in vascular anomalies.

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Key Dates

1 November 2019: Opening of Abstract Submissions

November 2019: Opening of Registration; Opening of Hotel Reservations

08 December 2019: Closing of Abstract Submission

March 2020: Discounted Registration Deadline

12-15 May 2020: ISSVA 2020 (Vancouver)!

Odile Enjolras, MD Travel Award

In the spirit of Dr. Enjolras, this award is intended for applicants who have demonstrated interest in propagating knowledge and treatment in the field of Vascular Anomalies in underserved areas. The travel award is intended to offset fees for registration and travel an individual who can prove their participation in the clinical care of patients with vascular anomalies and/or published research. One travel award will be granted for the 23rd ISSVA Workshop to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 12-15 May 2020.

Paradigms include:

•   Introduction of a new model for training or treatment.
•   Development of a new protocol for evaluation or treatment
•   Establishment of a treatment facility in their country.
•   Creation of a Training Module, published chapter, or other specific evidence of prior interest in vascular tumors or malformations

In order to accomplish these goals, the award recipient is expected to attend both the Pre-Congress Day on Tuesday, 12 May, along with the full Workshop, which runs from 13-15 May 2020.

The applicant need not be an active member of ISSVA, however must demonstrate a commitment to the field of vascular anomalies and a motivation/interest in becoming an ISSVA member.

Applications and all supporting materials (including Mentor Letter) should be submitted by December 1, 2019. The awardee will be notified by mid-January 2020.

Candidates can be postdoctoral fellows, students, trainees, residents, clinical fellows or faculty (M.D., M.D./Ph.D., Ph.D., or the equivalent).

The Award will cover:

1.  Registration fees for the Workshop and Pre-Congress Day (both of which the awardee is expected to attend)
2.  Hotel room and tax for five (5) nights at the host hotel (Westin Bayshore)
3.  Reimbursement for flight expenses up to $1,000.00 towards travel to and from Vancouver (receipts for economy fare transportation are required for reimbursement)

Candidates who are recipients of another travel award/grant are not eligible to apply for support to attend the ISSVA Workshop, and cannot be a previous recipient of the Odile Enjolras Award.

A summary documenting how your participation in the ISSVA Workshop has impacted the care of patients with vascular anomalies in your country/institution will be requested the year following the meeting.

Applicants for this award should submit:

1. Travel Award application (click here to download the application)
2. 300 word (or less) statement describing the applicant’s qualifications for this award
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Recommendation letter

New ISSVA Members

Congratulations to the new ISSVA Members who were voted into membership by the General Assembly:

Active Members:
Daniel Ashton, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir, MD and PhD, Genetics (United States)
Emily Bendel, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Waleed Brinjikji, MD, Neurointerventional radiology (United States)
Jocelyn AS Brookes, MD, Interventional Radiology (United Kingdom)
Ren Cai, MD, Plastic Surgery & Genetic and Genomics (China)
Huy M. Do, MD, Interventional Neuroradiology (United States)
Heather C. Etchevers, Dermatology, Genetics (France)
Roy G. Geronemus, MD, Basic Science (United States)
Christopher R. Ingraham, MD, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Kosuke Ishikawa, Plastic Surgery (Japan)
Shellie Josephs, MD, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Motoi Kato, Plastic Surgery (Japan)
Shyamkumar N. Keshava, Interventional Radiology (India)
Christine Trilivas Lauren, MD, Pediatric Dermatology (United States)
Pristine Lee, Pediatric Dermatology (United States)
Michael WY Leung, General Surgery (Hong Kong)
Laura E. Levin, Dermatology (United States)
Max M. Lokhorst, MD, Plastic Surgery (Netherlands)
Minnelly Luu, MD, Dermatology (United States)
Claudia C. Malic, MD, FRCSC, Plastic Surgery (Canada)
Kara D. Meister, MD, Otolaryngology (United States)
Maithilee Menezes, MD, Otolaryngology (United States)
Thomas Mentzel, Pathology (Germany)
Kimberly Morel, Dermatology (United States)
Phuong D. Nguyen, MD, Plastic Surgery (United States)
Andrew Nicholson, MD, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Monica Paola Novoa, MD, Pediatric Dermatology (Colombia)
Jose Luiz L. Orlando, Vascular Surgery & Interventional Radiology (Brazil)
Reema Padia, Otolaryngology (United States)
Neha A. Patel, MD, Otolaryngology (United States)
Martine F. Raphael, MD PhD, Hematology/Oncology (Netherlands)
Janet R. Reid, MD, Radiology (United States)
Stephen A. Rottgers, Plastic Surgery (United States)
Deshan Sebaratnam, Dermatology (Australia)
Yanlin Wang, General Surgery (China)
Walter A. Wohlgemuth, Neuroradiology (Germany)

Junior Members:
Hassan Abdullah (Kuwait)
Rakesh Ahuja, Interventional Pediatric Radiology (United States)
Steven M. Andreoli, MD, Otolaryngology (United States)
Elhamy K. Bekhit, MB, BS, FRANZCR, Interventional Radiology (Australia)
Alejandro Celis Jimenez, Vascular Surgery (Mexico)
Audrey J. Chan, Dermatology (United States)
Karen A. Chernoff, MD, Dermatology (United States)
Colleen H. Cotton, MD, Dermatology (United States)
Horst E. Daniels-Scharbatke, MD, Pediatric Surgery (Netherlands)
Kristopher M. Day, MD, Plastic Surgery (United States)
Raul A. De Luna Vega, MD, Interventional Radiology (Mexico)
Neil J. Fernandes, M.D., Pediatric Interventional Radiology (United States)
Carlos Alberto Da Silva Frias Neto, MD, Endovascular Surgery (Brazil)
Ankur Goyal, MD, Interventional Radiology (India)
Oksana Jackson, MD, Plastic Surgery (United States)
Claire Kaufman, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Jonair H. Labib, MD MSc PhD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (Egypt)
Emily YL Lai, Head and Neck Surgery (Hong Kong)
Bhanumathi Lakshminarayanan, Pediatric Surgery (United Kingdom)
Chi Lun Yvonne Leung, Pediatric Surgery (Hong Kong)
Travis McKenzie, DO, Interventional Radiology (United States)
Artur Medzhidov, Vascular Surgery (Russia)
Malathi Munisamy, MD, Dermatology (India)
Minh Hoang Nguyen, MD, Hematology/Oncology (Viet Nam)
Grace Onimoe, Hematology/Oncology (United States)
Sybille Perkowski, MD, Pediatric Surgery (Germany)
Mario Ruiz, MD, Basic Science (United States)
Carlos Eduardo Sanchez Montenegro, Oncology Pediatric Surgery (Costa Rica)
Eric S. Sandler, Hematology/Oncology (United States)
Natalia Vargas-Navia, MD, Pediatric Dermatology (Colombia)
Nancy Wang, MD, Otolaryngology (United States)

Associate Members:
Christine Cazeau, MD (United States)
Darla J. Espinoza, RN (United States)
Maria I. Millan Gonzalo, MD (United States)
Lauren RS Hill, CPNP-PC (United States)
Carolyn I. Kiolbasa (United States)
Karen M. Shara-Griggs, RN, DNC (United States)
Rachel Swerdlin, RN, MS, CPNP (United States)
Lex van Der Heijden (Netherlands)

ISSVA Meetings

2020: ISSVA 2020 will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 12-15 May 2020

2021: ISSVA will host a small, focused meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

2022: ISSVA 2022 will take place in Madrid, Spain

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Other Meetings of Interest

In keeping with the ISSVA policy, and with the approval of its Board of Directors, we announce the following meetings. This does not indicate an endorsement or sponsorship of these meetings:

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17-19 October 2019 Vancouver, Canada	3rd Biennial Forum on Interventional Radiology in Vascular Anomalies (FIRVA)
24-25 October 2019    Buenos Aires, Argentina	1st International Symposium on diagnosis and treatment of pediatric Vascular Anomalies
24-26 October 2019 Florence, Italy	VII Congresso Nazionale SISAV (Italian Society of Vascular Anomalies) Note: The official language of this meeting is Italian; two keynote lectures will be presented in English

Meet the Canaud group from Hopital Necker Enfants Malades (Paris, France), dedicated to deciphering the mechanisms underlying the physiopathology of overgrowth syndromes in order to improve patient’s condition.

They have been working on the PIK3/AKT/mTOR pathway in the context of kidney diseases but based on a patient experience, have progressively moved to this new field in 2016.

In order to achieve their goal, they have two sides: the research laboratory and the clinic. Very importantly, they have a very strong interaction between these two entities.

The Laboratory is developing new in vitro and in vivo models to better understand disease progression, to identify potential bio-markers and to offer new therapeutic opportunities. To this end, they have engineered multiple genetic mouse models and are using innovative technology to explore the molecular and structural cellular changes in overgrowth syndromes. The lab is composed by twelve people (two technicians, two engineers, two postdocs, two PhD students, two MSC students, one lab manager and one PI). To support their research, they have multiple funding, including European (ERCs) and Governmental grants but also from private and public Foundation supports and generous donators (i.e. US Cloves community syndrome).

The Clinic has created a unit dedicated to patient with overgrowth syndromes. They offer state of the art genotyping and the patients have access to all the specialists (surgeons, geneticists, radiologists, dermatologist, endocrinologists, etc.). This team also includes administrative assistants to organize all the medical appointments, nurses, assistant nurses, physical therapists, psychologists, etc. They just received a EUR 10 Million grant from their Government to accelerate this development. They are seeing French patients, but also patients from abroad. Every month, they have a multidisciplinary meeting to discuss all new cases as well as patients necessitating specific advice.

This is a very exciting Human adventure and if you want to join or visit do not hesitate to contact their director:

Prof. Guillaume Canaud
Hopital Necker Enfants Malades (Paris, France)
Université de Paris (France)
@Canaudlab