Message from President

The 19th International Conference of the Cardiovascular System Dynamics Society (CSDS 2010) will be held in Fukuoka, Japan, for four days from September 23rd (Thursday) through 26th (Sunday) in 2010.

The conference was established in 1976 primarily by physiologists and biomedical engineers with the aim of understanding the cardiovascular system as an integrated system and discussing its dynamic state. The conference has been hosted every two years at each of the three venues of North America, Europe and Japan in a rotating fashion. Since the 1980s, mainstream cardiovascular research has undergone a transition from macroscopic studies focused on organs and vessels in the body to microscopic studies based on molecular biology. As a result, a flood of findings on genes, molecules and proteins are being reported each day. But such elemental information only has true worth once we have clarified what role it actually plays in the circulatory system. This conference has played an important role in integrating such segmented microscopic studies, steadily evolving over the years until now. As reductionism has accelerated, the role undertaken by this conference has become increasingly important.

The main theme of the forthcoming conference is "Multiscale, multiphysics approach to cardiovascular disease -from risk factors to end-stage heart failure-". Multiscale in this context refers to the different hierarchical studies focused on a broad range of issues from minute molecules to biological systems. Multiphysics, on the other hand, indicates not only research focused solely on the characteristics of genes or proteins as a substance, but also research targeting a variety of physical quantities, including mechanical dynamics and electrical phenomena. Hypertension is one of the most common cardiovascular disorders and represents the leading risk factor in the development of cardiovascular events. The pathogenesis, however, has yet to be resolved. Also, it is still not yet fully understood what mechanism causes hypertension to evolve into the risk factor of cardiovascular events. In addition, the progression from high blood pressure to heart failure is a process of an abnormal system with multiple factors intertwined in a complex manner, but its mechanism is still unknown. In this conference, we urge experts in various fields from Japan and abroad to thoroughly discuss such important issues from as broad a perspective as possible.

We strongly hope that a truly "multiscale, multiphysics approach to cardiovascular disease" will lead to substantial advances on this occasion by bringing together different areas of expertise and nurturing cooperative relationships between leading researchers and their younger counterparts.

Kenji Sunagawa, M.D., Ph.D.
President of the 19th CSDS (CSDS 2010)
Professor, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine
Research Institute of Angiocardiology
Kyushu University