The San Diego State University BioScience Center hosted a symposium exploring the links between heart disease and viruses on Friday, July 20, 2007.

"This event was a great opportunity to explore this new area of study in heart disease," said Stanley Maloy, dean of the College of Sciences and former president of the American Society for Microbiology. "The SDSU BioScience Center is dedicated to studying the connections between infection, inflammation and heart disease, and we expect that this research will lead to new therapies and treatments for this prevalent disease."

The daylong event, held in the 500-seat auditorium in the Arts and Letters building, featured presentations from well-known experts specializing in cardiology or microbiology, including:

• Dr. Roberta Gottlieb, SDSU professor and director of the SDSU BioScience Center, who discussed the cell biology of coronary artery disease.
• Ann Progulske-Fox, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Molecular Microbiology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, gave a presentation about the role of dental health in atherosclerosis.
• Gerald Byrne, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of molecular sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, covered Chlamydia and its connections to atherosclerosis
• Dr. David Engman, associate professor of pathology and microbiology-immunology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, spoke about Chagas disease leading to autoimmune heart disease
• Dr. Kirk Knowlton, chief of cardiology at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, discussed Coxsackie myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart muscle.

The event was free and open to the public. The symposium was the first American Medical Association continuing education credited event to be hosted by the College of Sciences.

Symposium sponsors included Alan and Debbie Gold, of BioMed Realty; Fred Muto, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP; Scott Pancoast, Lpath Therapeutics Inc.; Steve Mento, Conatus Pharmaceuticals; and the American Heart Association Western Regional Affiliate.