Welcome and thank you for visiting the Sex Steroids and Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology conference web site.  This is the second in a series of conferences that have been hosted by the APS on the topic of Sex Steroids and Gender in physiology related fields. This conference has a diverse reach to many physiology disciplines including:  Cardiovascular, Water and Electrolyte, Renal, Cell and Molecular, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation, and Central Nervous System.

About the Meeting

This meeting is designed to bring together scientists from all over the world who have been involved in research interest in sex steroids and gender physiology. The conference is designed to provide a strong scientific program with participant interaction and emphasize emerging research performed by young investigators, including two poster sessions and five oral presentation sessions. There will also be opportunities for networking with established scientists and a career workshop sponsored by the APS.

The roles that sex steroids and gender play in the physiology and pathophysiology of cardiovascular and renal systems has become an important area of research in the past few years.  The conference we are proposing will include an international group of investigators who approach the role of sex steroids in cardiovascular systems in many different ways, including both clinical and basic research, with expertise in areas ranging from genetics to whole animal studies.  The global objective of the conference is to gather a critical mass of scientists who have interests and expertise in the roles of sex steroids in the physiology of the cardiovascular and renal systems to promote exchange of ideas and foster future collaborations. In addition, we expect that the conference will further increase awareness for the importance of sex steroids in cardiovascular and renal diseases (CVRD).

Men are at greater risk for CVRD than are premenopausal women. For example, men have higher blood pressure than women throughout most of their lives.  However, following menopause, women develop hypertension at a greater rate, and the CVRD common to men occur in woman approximately 10 years later than in men.  In recent years the incidence of CVRD has reached a plateau in men, whereas the incidence of CVRD in women continues to increase and they are less well clinically controlled than men.  The roles that both male and female sex steroids play in mediating or protecting against CVRD are controversial.  In the past, androgens were thought to promote CVRD, since men experience myocardial dysfunction and hypertension at an earlier age than women and progress to end stage renal failure at a more rapid rate.  In contrast, estrogens were thought to be cardiovascular-renal protective. However, with the HERS and WHI clinical trials, the promotion of inflammatory processes by estrogens, the reduction in androgen levels in chronic disease states and the protection against inflammation by androgens, it is obvious that previous concepts regarding the role that sex steroids play in physiology and pathophysiology need to be re-examined.  Furthermore, the increased use of androgen therapy in aging men and women despite the lack of safety trials makes a conference on the role that sex steroids play in cardiovascular and renal function very timely.

The Organizing Committee Members

The dedicated scientists who put together the exciting scientific program are as follows: