Sunday September 6, 2026

14:45-17:00

Opening and Plenary session I

Chairs: Ben Hogan and Claudine Bonder

14:45-15:00

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Natasha Harvey

15:00-15:40

The maternal-fetal interface and pregnancy complications in three dimensions

Professor Kristy Red-Horse

15:40-16:20

Building resilient lymphatic vasculature

Taija Makinen – The EMBO Keynote Lecture

16:20-17:00

Vascular Adaptations at Scale: Structural and Functional Divergence Across and Within Organs

Professor Ralf Adams

17:00-19:00

Welcome Reception

Monday September 7, 2026

8:00 – 8:45

Asia-Australia Vascular Biology Business Meeting

9:00-10:20

Plenary session II

Chairs: Andrew Murphy and Luisa Iruela-Arispe

9:00-9:40

Immuno-Gerotherapeutics Targeting Senescent Cells for Age-Associated Diseases

Professor Tohru Minamino

9:40-10:20

Maintaining Vascular Heterogeneity: Resilience 

Stefania Nicoli

10:20-10:45

Coffee Break

10:45-12:45

Parallel Session 1:

Mechanisms driving atherosclerosis

Chairs: Judy de Haan and Jin Han

Parallel Session 2:

Endothelial cell metabolism

Chairs: Enyuan Cao and Sri Vaidyanathan

Parallel Session 3:

Programming endothelial cell identity

Chairs:  Renjing Liu and Jan Kazenwadel

Parallel Session 4:

Immune cell trafficking through the vasculature

Chairs: Shu Wen Wen and Rebecca Harper

10:45-11:15

Transforming secondary prevention post-MI: insights from plaque imaging

Peter Psaltis

Michael Potente

ERG-Directed Gene Networks in Endothelial Cell Identity and Function

Graeme Birdsey

Dynamics of glomerular neutrophil trafficking in C3 Glomerulopathy

Michael Hickey

11:15-11:45

Myeloid cell heterogeneity in the cardio-cerebrovascular disease

Goo Taeg Oh

Metabolic control of endothelial cell fate

Katrien De Bock

Endothelial Cell Cycle Control of Cell Fate

Karen Hirschi

The immunemodulatory role of the endothelium: how local RNA translation regulates leukocyte transendothelial migration

Jaap van Buul

11:45-12:15

Endothelial metabolism beyond glycolysis: a central regulator of inflammation and atherosclerosis

Jeff Kroon

Metabolic regulators of vascular function

Bilal Sheikh

Organotypic Vascular Niches: Linking Local Endothelial Identity to Systemic Function

Karina Yaniv

Chrna7 regulates the hematopoietic bone marrow microenvironment to retain haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells

Andrew Murphy

12:15-12:30

Denuja Karunakaran

Angiogenesis is regulated by endothelial pyrimidine de novo synthesis 

Isidora Mitric

Srimayee Vaidyanathan

The CD15s/E-selectin vascular adhesion axis predicts responsiveness to immunotherapy in melanoma patients

Lisa Ebert

12:30-12:45

METTL14 inhibits atherogenesis by epigenetically activating PPAR-a/g transcription and fatty acid oxidation in VSMCs

Kathy Lui

Sinem Karaman

SOX18–TRIM28 driven transcriptional repression during lymphangiogenesis

Shikha Pachauri

Vascular control of myeloid cell metabolism drives tumor resistance to immunotherapy

Yi Fan

12:45-13:15

Lunch

13:15-14:15

Poster Session

14:15-16:15

Parallel Session 5:

Non-atherosclerotic diseases of vasculature

Chairs: Mary Kavurma and Aaron Trask

Parallel Session 6:

Endothelial cell responses to mechanical signals

Chairs: Sara Baratchi and Shigetomo Fukuhara

Parallel Session 7:

Endothelial cell heterogeneity

Chairs: Ralf Adams and  Anna Oszmiana

Parallel session 8:

Vascular anomalies

Chairs: Tony Penington and Sophie Wiszniak

14:15-14:45

Endothelial to mesenchymal transition – from molecular understanding to clinical therapeutics

Jason Kovacic

Julien Vermot

Human Adipose Tissue Vasculature: A Niche Shaped by Metabolic State

Joanna Kalucka

Mariona Graupera

14:45-15:15

Intestinal excess of AHR ligand is a targetable driver of pulmonary arterial hypertension

Yoshikazu Nakaoka

Cellular hydraulics in cell extrusion: from sprouting angiogenesis to endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition

Dr Li-Kun Phng

Revisiting the Anatomy and Heterogeneity of Skeletal Vasculature

Yoshiaki Kubota

A SOX18-Mevalonate Pathway Axis, Targetable with Statins, in Vascular Anomalies

Joyce Bischoff

15:15-15:45

Pre-clinical evaluation of a new therapy for pulmonary hypertension

Kristen Bubb

Mechanical licensing of endothelial proliferation

Maike Frye

The title is Mechanisms of lymphatic vascular specialization

Tatiana Petrova

Pericyte contractility in health and disease

Claudio Franco

15:45-16:00

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Endothelial Cells Drives Greater Vascular Impairment in Females with Diabetes-Associated Peripheral Artery Disease

Jaideep Singh

Blood flow-induced mechano-transduction shapes pial collateral artery network

Swarnadip Ghosh

Adrenomedullin-PIM kinase signalling determines differential arteriovenous cell-cell adhesion

Kahli Jones

Unraveling a SOX18–BRG1 Chromatin Remodeling Axis Hijacked by Oncogenic Herpesvirus in Lymphatic Endothelial Cells

Paivi Ojala

16:00-16:15

Epithelial-derived IL-1β and TNF drive endothelial dysfunction and coagulopathy in acute COVID-19.

Larisa Labzin

A Piezo1-dependent feed-forward mechanotransduction loop drives VSMC apoptosis and arterial medial calcification

Bo Wei Ou

A single-cell time-series atlas of endothelial cell embryonic development

Qi Chen

The Linc Between Accelerated and Normal Vascular Aging

Caitlin Francis

16:15-16:40

Coffee Break

16:40-18:00

Plenary Session III – EVBO Award Lectures

Chair: Karina Yaniv

16:40-17:20

Cordially, VEGF-C: A story of lymphangiogenesis

Kari Alitalo

17:20-18:00

Mechanical Control of Cardiovascular Function

Serena Zacchigna

Tuesday September 8, 2026

7:30-8:30

AVBS AGM

9:00-10:20

Plenary session IV

Chairs: Connie Wong and Tatiana Petrova

9:00-9:40

Cardiac lymphatics in heart growth and repair

Professor Guillermo Oliver

9:40-10:20

Following lipoproteins – insights into lymphatic and cardiovascular health

Gwen Randolph

10:20-10:45

Coffee Break

10:45-12:45

Parallel Session 9: Innovative approaches for imaging and treatment of cardiovascular disease

Chairs: Christina Bursill and Mitchell Moon

Parallel session 10:

Meningeal lymphatics

Chairs: Leon Smyth and Natalie Trevaskis

LE&RN Sponsored Session 

Parallel Session 11:

Organotypic vascular specialisation

Chairs: Sinem Karaman and Mariona Graupera

Parallel Session 12:

The genetic basis of lymphatic vascular disorders

Chairs: Stan Rockson and Hamish Scott

10:45-11:15

Therapeutic targeting of cell membrane receptors: From antibody to mRNA therapeutics.

Karlheinz Peter

Venolymphatic interplay in the dural perisinus: role in brain health and disease

Jean-Leon Thomas

Ondine Cleaver

Improving the Diagnostic Yield of Primary Lymphatic Anomalies

Pia Ostergaard

11:15-11:45

Microstructural and molecular intravascular imaging of atherosclerosis

Jiawen Li

Meningeal Lymphatics: A Hidden Driver and Untapped Target of Migraine

Kathleen Caron

Functional specialization of craniofacial bone marrow vasculature

Bong Ihn Koh

Precision Lymphology: How genetics informs diagnosis and treatment

Sarah Shepphard

11:45-12:15

Vascular Calcification and Aging: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential

Yabing Chen

Bridging veins facilitate neuroimmune communication in the meninges

Leon Smyth

Gatekeeping Function of the Vascular Endothelium in Liver Fibrosis Pathogenesis

You Mie Lee

Stan Rockson

12:15-12:30

Inhibition of Cholesterol Synthesis in human T cells decreases T cell proliferation and activation  

Marit Westerterp

Targeting the vasculature as novel therapeutic for dementia

Ka Ka Ting

Single-cell multi-omic meta-analysis of the human coronary microcirculation identifies vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypes and disease-associated genes

Toby Brown

Jiarna Zerella

12:30-12:45

Hypoxia-Targeted Nanoparticle Delivery of AntimiR-181c Rescues Diabetes-Impaired Angiogenesis and Wound Healing

Emma Solly

Cervical lymphatic vessel’s functioning impairment in traumatic brain injury: implications in chronic lymphatic failure and edema resolution

Rashad Hussain

Long term lineage tracing of endothelial cells reveals unique turnover dynamics across different organs

Margherita Zamberlan

Activating variants in RIT1 cause central conducting lymphatic anomaly

Lola Zerbib

12:45-13:15

Lunch

13:15-14:15

Poster Session

14:15-16:15

Parallel Session 13:

The ocular vasculature in health and disease

Chairs: Andrew Benest and You Mie Lee

Parallel session 14:

Neuroinflammation

Chairs: Connie Wong and Renee Turner

Parallel Session 15:

Lymphatic vascular development

Chairs:  Maike Frye and Drew Sutton                          NHMRC CRE in Lymphoedema and Lymphatic Regeneration Sponsored Session

Parallel Session 16:

Tumour vasculature

Chairs: David Bates and Emma Thompson

Centre for Cancer Biology Sponsored Session

14:15-14:45

Pericyte Dynamics and Lineage Plasticity in Retinal Homeostasis and Disease

Junyeop Lee

Brain border immunity and waste clearance in neurodegenerative disease

Justin Rustenhoven

A multifactorial subepicardial niche regulates coronary lymphangiogenesis

Miguel Torres

The lymphatic system in driving cancer progression

Tim Padera

14:45-15:15

VEGF-B and microglia-neutrophil cross-talk in angiogenesis

Xuri Li

Snake venoms hijack inflammatory mechanisms: doorway to the brain?

Neil Spratt

Brant Weinstein

Inflammaging of endothelial cells and cancer progression

Kyoko Hida

15:15-15:45

Immune cell regulation of retinal vascular function

Erica Fletcher

Multifaceted roles of microglia after stroke

Josh Bourne

Heterogeneity in lymphatic progenitor sprouting contributes to robustness of lymphatic vessel formation

Kaska Koltowska

Elysee Morris

15:45-16:00

Maternal Gut Microbiota Regulates Neonatal Retinal Angiogenesis via Lactational Metabolic Signalling

Sally Dreger

Decoding Regional Vulnerability to Inflammation in the Brain Vasculature

Mariaelena Valentino

Lymphatic regeneration and auxiliary lymphangiogenesis in zebrafish

Connor Bayly-Jones

Down syndrome (DS)-related endothelial cell-specific factor Erg exerts DS-like, absolute anti-tumor activity via vessel normalization in the tumor microenvironment

Takashi Minami

16:00-16:15

Human microphysiological model of retinal matrix stiffening reveals pericyte-mediated mechanisms of vascular dysfunction

Emily Warren

Single-Cell and Spatial Atlas of Human Brain Aneurysms Reveals Pathogenic Crosstalk Between Activated Fibroblasts and Osteoclast-Like Macrophages During Disease Progression

Jerry Wang

Zebrafish non-venous facial lymphatic progenitors are derived from the cardiopharyngeal mesoderm

Jonathan Astin

Endothelial cell instructions reprogram cancer cells toward vasculogenic mimicry and vessel formation

Kay Myo Min

16:15-16:40

Coffee Break

16:40-18:00

Plenary Session V

Chairs: Mat Francois and Kathleen Caron

16:40-17:20

Novel Genetic Bases of Lymphatic Anomalies

Professor Miikka Vikkula

17:20-18:00

When Flow Meets Growth: The Challenge of Proliferation under Mechanical Stress

Professor Luisa Iruela-Arispe

Wednesday September 9, 2026

7:15-8:15

Fun run/walk (pre-run/walk stretching to begin from 7:15am on Regattas Lawn)

9:00-10:20

Plenary session VI

Chairs:  Michael Hickey and Stefania Nicoli

9:00-9:40

Cave Exploration at the Nanoscale; New Insights into the Structure and Function of Caveolae

Professor Robert Parton

9:40-10:20

Harnessing the vasculature to protect brain health

Anne Eichmann

10:20-10:45

Coffee Break

10:45-12:45

Parallel Session 17:

Cardiovascular disease and cancer

Chairs: Grant Drummond and David Stepp

Parallel Session 18:

Mechanotransduction     in the vasculature

Chairs: Simone Schoenwalder and Li-Kun Phng

Parallel Session 19:

Vascular engineering and regeneration

Chairs: Kaska Koltowska and

Parallel Session 20: 

   EVBO/AVBS/AAS Awards

10:45-11:15

Endothelial dysfunction as a central mechanism in angiogenesis inhibitor-induced hypertension

Katrina Colafella

Andrew Holle

Chris Hughes

11:15-11:45

Radiation Reprograms Vascular Cell Plasticity, Resulting in Atherosclerotic Plaque Instability

Rebecca Deaton

Charles Cox

Mechanical balance between blood flow and vascular basement membrane stiffness in angiogenic morphogenesis

Koichi Nishiyama

11:45-12:15

Cytoskeletal Regulation of Pathological Angiogenesis in Renal Cell Carcinoma

David Gau

Endothelial shear stress sensing at cell-cell junctions

Martin Schwartz

An intrinsic property of blood proteins that underpins autoantibody recognition in autoimmune diseases

Philip Hogg

12:15-12:30

Investigating the effects of radiation on vascular development and regeneration in zebrafish

Kazuhide Okuda

Endothelial lamin A/C downregulation drives age-related cardiovascular disease

Ignacio Benedicto

Stromal–endothelial cell crosstalk orchestrates formation and functionality of hiPSC-derived cardiac microvasculature on chip

Avalon Johnson

12:30-12:45

Yolk Sac-Derived Endothelial-Macrophage Progenitors in Skin: Drivers of Wound Healing and Tumour Growth

Sanuri Liyanage

Distinct Flow Adaptation Programs in Human Arterial and Venous Endothelium

Emily Trimm

Engineering Flow-Matured Human Vasculature-on-Chip to Model Collateral Remodeling and Immune Cell Trafficking

Tomasz Nawara

12:45-13:15

Lunch

12:45-14:00

IVBM Business Meeting

12:45-14:00

Meet the Speaker Session 

14:15-16:15

Parallel session 21:

Atherosclerosis and thrombosis

Chairs: Liz Gardiner and  Sanuri Liyanage

Parallel session 22:

Lymphatic vessels and immunity

Chairs: Tara Karnezis and Justin Rustenhoven

Parallel session 23:

Using advanced technologies to understand vascular biology

Chairs: Daniel Brieger and Bong Ihn Koh

Parallel session 24:

Hot topics

Chairs: Kathy Lui and Qi Chen

14:15-14:45

Gemma Figtree

Immunomodulatory Functions of Lymphatic Endothelial Cells

Cornelia Halin

Longitudinal Intravital Imaging of Neurovascular Dynamics Following Cerebral Microinfarction

Pilhan Kim

Ben Chen

14:45-15:15

Stuck on high: Platelet hyperreactivity, cardiovascular risk and new therapeutic targets

Freda Passam

An Adult Lymphatic Switch Between Lipid Entry and Tissue Repair

Hong Chen

How does the genome feel force?

Mat Francois

Jia Li

15:15-15:45

Distinct microvascular occlusion mechanisms triggered by endothelial cell death

Shaun Jackson

Lymph-Directed Glyceride Mimetic Prodrugs to Enhance Immunotherapy and Organ Failure Treatment

Natalie Trevaskis

Angiogenesis in the absence of VEGFR signalling

Rui Benedito

Ashish Misra

15:45-16:00

Blake Cochran

Lymphatic dysfunction and ZFP36 deficiency contribute to myxomatous mitral valve degeneration in Marfan Syndrome mice

Tsutomu Kume

Brain-wide mapping of mural cell diversity reveals a novel intraluminal structure at arterial bifurcations

Julien Guemri

A liver-enriched transfer RNA-derived small RNA regulates lipid homeostasis and atherosclerosis development

Changcheng Zhou

16:00-16:15

Examining efferocytosis as a novel mode of tissue repair in vascular endothelial cells

Amy Baxter

Visualising dynamic interactions between vasculature and immune cells through intravital imaging

Cameron Bastow

Organ-specific vascular signalling hubs precede and regulate the metastatic spread of cancer

Rae Farnsworth

Mitochondrial dysfunction induced integrated stress responses in endothelial cells during atherosclerosis

Xiao-Yu Tian

16:15-16:40

Coffee Break

16:40-18:00

Plenary Session VII

Chairs:  Taija Makinen and Anne Lagendijk

16:40-17:20

RNA-Driven Genetic Robustness in Endothelial cells: Mechanisms of Transcriptional Adaptation

Professor Didier Stainier

17:20-18:00

Decoding vascular complexity with orthogonal recombinases

Professor Bin Zhou

19:00-23:00

Gala Dinner

Thursday September 10, 2026

9:00-11:00

Parallel session 25:

Towards novel therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases

Chairs:   Ashish Misra and Emma Solly  

Parallel session 26:

The neurovascular interface

Chairs:  Quenten Schwarz and Kirsten Coupland

Parallel session 27:

Signalling pathways driving vascular development, maturation and function

Chairs:  Steven Stacker and Kazu Okuda

Parallel session 28:

Endothelial cell junctions in development and inflammation

Chairs: Larisa Labzin and Rae Farnsworth

9:00-9:30

Developing novel adjunctive antithrombotic therapy - for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Simone Schoenwalder

A Chromatin Remodeler–Regulated Angiogenic Network Shapes Vascular Architecture

Mei Xin

Ferdinand le Noble

Establishing vessel-specific VE-cadherin adhesions during development

Anne Lagendijk

9:30-10:00

Mitochondrial Dynamics and KLF4-Driven Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Plasticity in Vascular Disease

Kyung-Sun Heo

Andy Benest

Targeting Tumor Microenvironment Network Signals to Develop Novel Therapeutic Strategies

Tetsuro Watabe

Angiopoietin-Tie Signaling Integrates Junctions and Integrins for Vascular Stability

Pipsa Saharinen

10:00-10:30

Endothelial Secretory Factors in Albuminuric Kidney Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Development

Masanori Nakayama

A novel role for NRP1 in angiogenesis

Christiana Ruhrberg

Metastatic vasculature: endothelial mechanisms for lung and lymph node metastasis

Jan Kitajewski

Connexin Hemichannels : The Hidden Regulators of Microvascular Function

Mauricio Lillo

10:30-10:45

Phoebe Cheong 

Spatially resolved molecular cartography reveals specialized cell ensembles in the human brain vasculature

Ethan Winkler

CAP1 is a gatekeeper to maintain the homeostasis of human endothelial cells by formation of the triple complex with adenylyl cyclase and caveolin

Yoo-wook Kwon

An Inducible Huntington’s Disease Neurovascular Unit-on-Chip Identifies Candidate Signaling Pathways Modulating Blood–Brain Barrier Leak

Lien Mari Reolizo

10:45-11:00

Overcoming Thrombolysis Resistance using Thrombus-targeted Nanoparticles

Mitchell Moon

Mural cells protect the adult brain from hemorrhage but do not control the blood-brain barrier in developing zebrafish

Oguzhan Baltaci

Synergy of Endothelial Notch4 and Notch1 in Angiogenesis

Christie Kang

Context-dependent cooperation of endothelial β1- and β3-integrins maintains adult vascular homeostasis and hepatic zonation

Keerthana Ganesh

11:00-11:30

Coffee break

11:30-13:15

Plenary Session VIII and Closing

Chairs: Maria Jelinic and Natasha Harvey

11:30-12:10

A vascular perspective on inflammation and cancer

Professor Gabriele Bergers

12:10-12:50

Development, evolution and regeneration of lymphatic endothelial lineages

Ben Hogan

12:50-13:15

Closing Remarks & Presentation of Travel Awards