Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The overarching mission of the Swine in Biomedical Research Conferenceis to engage animal scientists, clinicians and veterinarians to better understand pig biology, develop and refine research tools, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The biological similarities between pigs and humans combined with recent advancements in genome editing has increased the demand for porcine biomedical models. This new momentum also provides knowledge and tools to accelerate agricultural research. The specific aims of this conference areto: (1) foster interactions between animal scientists and biomedical researchers; (2) identify unmet needs or existing gaps in swine research; and (3) increase animal scientists diversity representation to ensure continued growth of the swine research community. A central goal of the planning is to increase inclusion of nationally underrepresented groups and to encourage participation of trainees and early-stage researchers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The conference provided opportunities for training and profession development through presentation of cutting edge talks representing a variety of leading porcine biomedical fields including xenotransplantation, oncology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular disease. Discussion of techniques utilized in porcine biomedical research was also included to provide insights intobasic techniques utilized by a wide range of scientists and veterinarians in biomedical research studies. These includedanesthetic options and proper use, blood collection, handling, and sample collection and storage. Regulatory requirements for use and distribution of transgenic pigs was also discussed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A white paper is in the works to assess the current state of knowledge of comparative swine biology, identify gaps in knowledge and assess needs and demands for new swine models, swine research facilities, resources and expertise in the United States What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2022 (SBR 2022) was the 7th conference in the series launched in 1995 (October 22-25) by Drs. Lawrence Schook and Mike Tumbleson at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and was held at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, Madison, Wisconsin, June 10-14, 2022. With its current level of biomedical research, the location provided a thematic backdrop and a collaborative network for reaching out to and attracting broader demographics of attendees, including many of those affiliated with the biomedical industry. SBR 2022 was co-chaired by Drs. Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam and Kyle Schachtschneider. Conference committees included both previous members (e.g., Drs. Schook and Prather) with institutional knowledge and expertise in swine research and a history of involvement in the conference series, as well as new members (e.g., Drs. Shanmuganayagam, Schachtschneider, West and Gaba) who have well-established ties to the human clinical practice, the biomedical research community, and the medical industry. The SBR 2022 conference, in contrast to previous meetings in the series, focused on engaging significantly larger numbers of animal scientists, human medical scientist/clinicians and veterinarians to better understand pig biology (immunology, growth, metabolism, nutrition, reproduction and behavior), develop and refine research tools, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The conference program and events were designed to encourage interaction and networking between human medical scientists/clinicians and veterinarian researchers/animal scientists to foster new and highly translational multidisciplinary collaborations. The SBR 2022 conference chairs, with guidance from the conference committees, developed a successful and comprehensive conference program. The program consisted of 26 sessions and 135 talks, and three evening receptions to foster networking opportunities. Over 18 biomedical fields were represented. The conference program was met with great enthusiasm, garnering 221 participants, with 95% attending in person. The participants included both national and international representation. The conference received additional funding support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and hosted a speaker from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reflecting the two agencies' interest in and support for the growing field of biomedical swine research.?
Publications
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Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2022 washeld at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, June 10-14, 2022. The location, with its College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health and School of Veterinary Medicine provides a thematic backdrop for promoting multidisciplinary collaborations, attracting broader demographics of attendees, and achieving greater collaboration between animal scientists and biomedical researchers. The overarching mission of this conference series is to engage animal scientists, clinicians and veterinarians to better understand pig biology, develop and refine research tools, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The biological similarities between pigs and humans combined with recent advancements in genome editing has increased the demand for porcine biomedical models. This new momentum will also provide knowledge and tools to accelerate agricultural research. The specific aims of this conference are to: (1) foster interactions between animal scientists and biomedical researchers; (2) identify unmet needs or existing gaps in swine research; and (3) increase animal scientists diversity representation to ensure continued growth of the swine research community. A central goal of the planning is to increase inclusion of nationally underrepresented groups and to encourage participation of trainees and early-stage researchers. The outcomes of the conference will be: (a) a white paper to assess the current state of swine biology and identify needs for new swine models, swine research facilities, resources and expertise in the United States, and (b) a report summarizing results of meeting surveys to assess success of the conference and areas for future growth. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The conference provided opportunities for training and profession development through presentation of cutting-edge talks representing a variety of leading porcine biomedical fields including xenotransplantation, oncology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular disease. Discussion of techniques utilized in porcine biomedical research was also included to provide insights into basic techniques utilized by a wide range of scientists and veterinarians in biomedical research studies. These included anesthetic options and proper use, blood collection, handling, and sample collection and storage. Regulatory requirements for use and distribution of transgenic pigs was also discussed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? A white paper is in the works to assess the current state of knowledge of comparative swine biology, identify gaps in knowledge and assess needs and demands for new swine models, swine research facilities, resources and expertise in the United State. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Swine in Biomedical Research Conference 2022 (SBR 2022) was the 7th conference in the series launched in 1995 (October 22-25) by Drs. Lawrence Schook and Mike Tumbleson at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and was held at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, Madison, Wisconsin, June 10-14, 2022. With its current level of biomedical research, the location provided a thematic backdrop and a collaborative network for reaching out to and attracting broader demographics of attendees, including many of those affiliated with the biomedical industry. SBR 2022 was co-chaired by Drs. Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam and Kyle Schachtschneider. Conference committees included both previous members (e.g., Drs. Schook and Prather) with institutional knowledge and expertise in swine research and a history of involvement in the conference series, as well as new members (e.g., Drs. Shanmuganayagam, Schachtschneider, West and Gaba) who have well-established ties to the human clinical practice, the biomedical research community, and the medical industry. The SBR 2022 conference, in contrast to previous meetings in the series, focused on engaging significantly larger numbers of animal scientists, human medical scientist/clinicians and veterinarians to better understand pig biology (immunology, growth, metabolism, nutrition, reproduction and behavior), develop and refine research tools, and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. The conference program and events were designed to encourage interaction and networking between human medical scientists/clinicians and veterinarian researchers/animal scientists to foster new and highly translational multidisciplinary collaborations. The SBR 2022 conference chairs, with guidance from the conference committees, developed a successful and comprehensive conference program. The program consisted of 26 sessions and 135 talks, and three evening receptions to foster networking opportunities. Over 18 biomedical fields were represented. The conference program was met with great enthusiasm, garnering 221 participants, with 95% attending in person. The participants included both national and international representation. The conference received additional funding support from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and hosted a speaker from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reflecting the two agencies' interest in and support for the growing field of biomedical swine research. The first aim of the main goals was to engage a larger pool of clinician researchers, veterinarians, and biomedical scientists and begin to integrate them into the biomedical swine research community. We successfully attracted many first-time attendees from these backgrounds and provided high-quality talks from clinicians and veterinarians who typically do not attend the conference series. Of the attendees, ~15% were clinicians or physician-scientists and first-time attendees, while approximately 22% of the speakers were from this background. It should be noted that this underestimates the biomedical field representation as the estimation only included those from a clinical background (MDs) and did not include a significant number who identified themselves as biomedical researchers from non-clinical backgrounds. Thus, clinician researchers and biomedical scientists represented approximately 50% of participants. Moving forward, we plan to build on this progress by engaging with clinicians who were present for SBR 2022 on how best to continue to increase clinical participation in future years. Suggestions received thus far include contacting College of Medicine and Veterinary Deans and Department Heads to help disseminate invitations within their networks and partnering with foundations such as the Society for Interventional Radiology, Society for Interventional Oncology, and the American Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences. The second aim of the conference was to identify unmet clinical needs or existing gaps in research that require innovative swine models. We accomplished this aim by ensuring that most sessions were co-chairs by a clinician/physician-scientist and an academic scientist/veterinarian. Those sessions had at least one presentation that focused on unmet clinical needs or existing gaps in research. The accomplishment is highlighted by the wide variety of high-quality presentations spanning many biomedically relevant topic areas addressing unmet clinical needs and gaps in research. Some of the highlights of the conference that the attendees identified in our exit survey included getting introduced to innovative uses of porcine models, networking opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations, and the diversity of research topics, including sessions on xenotransplantation, oncology, cell therapies, and regenerative medicine, and medical imaging. The third aim of the conference was to increase diversity and ensure the continued growth of the biomedical swine research community. A central goal of the planning is to increase the inclusion of nationally underrepresented groups (esp. women and minorities) and to encourage the participation of trainees (graduate students and postdocs) and early-stage researchers. We were pleased with what we were able to accomplish. Over half (57%) of the attendees, 46% of session co-chairs, 56% of the speakers, and 61% of poster presenters were from nationally underrepresented groups. We were also able to engage a significant number of students and postdoctoral trainees (16% of attendees) and engage their participation (~16% of speakers; ~58% of poster presenters). Regarding the career stage, we were also happy to learn that most attendees identified themselves as either early (~30%) or mid-career (~47%) during our exit survey. Moving forward, we will continue to improve participation by early career clinicians, scientists, and underrepresented groups while prioritizing selecting committee members and co-chairs from these groups. Based on the results of the conference (discussions at scientific and panel sessions and exit survey), we were able to assess the current state of the biomedical swine research field and identify needs or demands for biomedical swine models, swine research facilities, resources, and expertise in the United States. We were able to ascertain information summarizing meeting survey results to assess the conference's success and areas for future growth.
Publications
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