Pushing the frontiers of cardiovascular biology

The Council for Basic Cardiovascular Science (CBCS), founded in 2004 with the mission to foster and support basic research in cardiovascular biology within the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), brought together ESC working groups and societies outside the ESC that shared a common interest in various aspects of cardiovascular biology and medicine. To pursue this aim CBCS with the continuous and generous support of the ESC since then has started a host of initiatives (https:// www.escardio.org/Councils/Council-on-Basic-Cardiovascular-Science(CBCS)). CBCS launched a biennial Summer School in Cardiovascular Biology and provides travel grants for young researchers to attend the annual ESC congress. In addition, CBCS offers the ESC Basic Research Fellowship to successful and promising young scientists in cardiovascular research designed to allow them to spend one year in a European research laboratory. Other initiatives of the CBCS to support young researchers and to acknowledge their achievements in their field of endeavour are the ESC First Contact Initiative Grant and the Outstanding Achievement Award. In 2010 the CBCS decided to take on the challenge to organize a biennial scientific conference named Frontiers in Cardiovascular Biology (FCVB). These conferences, held successfully in Berlin in 2010, in London in 2012, in Barcelona in 2014, and in Florence in 2016, have attracted up to 900 attendants and have established itself as one of the most relevant exchange platforms for basic and translational research in cardiovascular biology. At this meeting young cardiologists have the opportunity to meet renowned experts in the field of cardiovascular biology and to present and discuss their research to and with them. From 20–22 April 2018 the 5th edition of FCVB is being held in Vienna, Austria (https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-&-Events/Frontiers-in-Cardi ovascular-Biology). As in previous editions the organizers have strived to prepare a meeting that offers the best and most novel and exciting cardiovascular science to participants in a unique and attractive programme that covers the whole spectrum of cutting-edge research in basic and translational cardiovascular biology. Delegates of the meeting will experience three days of top quality research presented in oral and poster sessions. Included in the programme are three Keynote Lectures and two Hot Topic Sessions given by renowned experts in the field and covering topics such as the hopes and hypes of genome editing, the newest developments in cardiac reprogramming and regeneration, the promises of genome wide association studies, the use of biomarkers in cardiovascular risk assessment and the involvement of microbiota in disease development. As an educational effort several workshops have been made part of the programme to give young scientists the opportunity to familiarize themselves with state-of-the-art technology in CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, with the development and applicability of new fluorescent sensors to elucidate intracellular signalling and with the challenges involved in the isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles. The Scientists of Tomorrow have designed a special session aimed to provide young researchers with important information as to how to successfully pursue a scientific career in the field of cardiovascular biology. The speakers in this session will cover topics such as how young scientist can establish their own lab, when and how to apply for competitive grants, what challenges exist for women in science and why it is important to get involved in young scientific communities. Traditionally the six best cardiac and vascular abstracts, respectively, submitted to the congress by young scientists have been selected by a panel of expert reviewers out of a total of more than 500 abstracts for oral presentation in two Best Abstract Sessions. In each of these two sessions the six presenters will compete with their presentation for the respective Young Investigator Award. A Late Abstract Session has also been incorporated into the programme to provide researchers with the opportunity to present exciting data that were not available at the original abstract deadline for the meeting. Cardiovascular Research, as a journal linked to The Council for Basic Cardiovascular Science, provides support to this meeting by publishing the abstracts, which will be available in the form of an online supplement, accompanied by a virtual issue collating research papers related to the topics of Keynote Lectures and Hot Topic Sessions. We also encourage authors of best original papers presented, in particular although not limited to Young Investigator Award session finalists, to submit their work to Cardiovascular Research. We are devoted to nurturing and building further Cardiovascular Research community. Finally, the Journal will coorganize a session entitled ‘How to publish your Cardiovascular Research’ focussing on strategies of designing and conducting a mechanistic translational research in the cardiovascular concept. The authors, editors of Cardiovascular Research, wish all attendants of the FCVB in Vienna a fruitful and enjoyable meeting and invite all readers to mark their calendars for the 6th edition of FCVB, to be held 2020 in Budapest.