The Top Ten Hit Parade for 2025 includes the announcements of the Benditt and Folkman Award Winners, Industry News, Spotlight on Trainees, Member Publications by Juan Melero-Martin, Rakesh Jain, and Steven Segal; Lessons Learned by Terren Niethamer and Paul Cheng; and Lab of the Month features from Paul Cheng, Alisa Clyne, and Juan Melero-Martin.
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Folkman and Benditt Awards Recipients
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2025 Earl P. Benditt Award — Anne Eichmann, PhD
NAVBO is pleased to announce the selection of Anne Eichmann, PhD, as the 2025 recipient of the Earl P. Benditt Award, in recognition of her numerous contributions to our understanding of tissue patterning during vascular and lymphatic development. Dr. Eichmann will present the Benditt Lecture, titled "Guidance of Vascular Patterning," and receive the award, one of NAVBO's highest honors, at Vascular Biology 2025 in Hyannis, Massachusetts in October. Dr. Eichmann is currently the Ensign Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and a member of the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Read more
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2025 Judah Folkman Award – Yajaira Suárez, PhD
NAVBO announces with pleasure the selection of Yajaira Suárez, PhD, as the recipient of the 2025 Judah Folkman Award in Vascular Biology. This award recognizes outstanding contributions from vascular biologists who are at mid-career (within fifteen years of their first faculty appointment). Dr. Suárez will present the Folkman Award Lecture and receive the award at Vascular Biology 2025. Dr. Suárez is currently the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Comparative Medicine and Pathology at the Yale University School of Medicine, where her lab explores regulation of endothelial cell and macrophage function by
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non-coding RNAs in the context of atherosclerosis, tumor growth and metastasis, adipose tissue expansion, and wound healing. Read more
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For more information on both recipients, please visit our web site.
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Federal funding for life science research and recent Congressional actions
As of this writing (July 2025), the so-called Big Beautiful Bill is inching toward approval by the US House of Representatives. While no doubt broadly impactful, the BBB is a budget reconciliation bill and not the FY2025 or FY2026 federal budget. Thus, approved funding for the NIH and NSF in principle remains as proscribed under the FY2025 Continuing Resolution. Stormy waters lie ahead nevertheless, as the FY2026 HHS budget proposes drastic reductions in NIH’s discretionary budget, grant funding, and researcher training and intramural research programs.
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Are the days of the US as a beacon for international grad students coming to an end?
Liam Knox, writing in Inside Higher Ed, paints a sobering picture of the future of international students being able to pursue advanced degrees in the US. International students are a financial lifeline for many colleges, and enrollments are just recovering from the pandemic. In recent weeks, immigration officials have revoked student visas, raided dorm rooms, arrested green-card holders, and threatened to deport international students who participated in campus protests. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been cut from STEM-related research grants, which help fund many international graduate students’ studies. Institutions are now faced with thorny decisions on recruitment and admissions, not wanting to bring students on board without confidence of ongoing financial support (May 2025).
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Rapid generation of functional vascular organoids via simultaneous transcription factor activation of endothelial and mural lineages
Cell Stem Cell
Vascular organoids (VOs) are valuable tools for studying vascular development, disease, and regenerative medicine. However, controlling endothelial and mural compartments independently remains challenging. Here, we present a streamlined method to generate VOs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) via orthogonal activation of the transcription factors (TFs) ETV2 and NKX3.1 using Dox-inducible or modRNA systems. Read More
Targeting EPHB2/ABL1 restores antitumor immunity in preclinical models of ependymoma
PNAS
Ependymoma is a rare type of central nervous system tumors that arise in the supratentorial region, posterior fossa of the brain, or spinal cord. Extensive molecular analyses of ependymal tumors have revealed distinct molecular profiles despite being histologically similar. Read More
Satellite Cell Ablation Limits Myofiber Regeneration but Not Angiogenesis Following Skeletal Muscle Injur
Microcirculation
Objective: Myotoxin injury of skeletal muscle disrupts myofibers and fragments capillaries. Following injury, myofibers and capillaries regenerate in concert; however, it remains unresolved whether myogenesis and angiogenesis are interdependent processes. We tested the hypothesis that myofiber regeneration is required for revascularization. Read More
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Terren Niethamer, Ph.D.
Lessons Learned March 2025
Terren K. Niethamer shares key lessons from the first year as a tenure-track investigator at the National Cancer Institute, emphasizing the importance of communication, collaboration, finding supportive colleagues, patience with slow progress, and expanding one’s skill set through mentorship and training. Dr. Niethamer also highlights the need for scientists to effectively communicate the value of their work to the public, especially during times of uncertainty in research careers.
Read more from Dr. Neithamer here.
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Paul Cheng, Ph.D.
Lessons Learned April 2025
Dr. Paul Cheng shares key insights from his journey as a Junior PI, emphasizing the importance of building a supportive community, fostering a collaborative lab culture, and prioritizing personal health and passion in scientific research. He also highlights the value of optimism, mentorship, investing in novel tools, and persistent grant writing for early career success.
Read more from Dr. Cheng here.
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Month - April 2025
The Lab of Dr. Paul Cheng
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr. Paul Cheng, Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Find out more about his lab by visiting his page in our Lab of the Month listing.
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Month - July 2025
The Lab of Dr. Alisa Clyne
This month we are highlighting the lab of Dr.
Alisa Clyne, Professor at the University of Maryland.
Find out more about her lab by visiting her page in our
Lab of the Month listing.
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This month we’re highlighting the lab of Dr. Juan Melero-Martin, an Associate Professor of Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. The Melero-Martin lab is focused on creating cell-based therapies for vascular repair and regeneration using bioengineered vascular networks and vascular organoids.
Find out more about his lab by visiting his page in our Lab of the Month listing.
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Click on image above to access the web site.
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| December 18, 2025 |
Journal Club - December 2025 |
| January 8, 2026 |
Webinar Featuring Springer Award Winner Callie Kwartler, Ph.D. |
| January 9 - 11, 2026 |
VISION 2026 |
| January 15, 2026 |
InFocus - Metabolism in Vascular Disease |
| January 20, 2026 |
Alternative Career Paths Series — Session 1: Nonprofit Organizations |
| January 22, 2026 |
Journal Club - January 2026 |
| February 10 - 12, 2026 |
Specification of Endothelial Cell Phenotypes |
| February 16 - 19, 2026 |
EMBL Conference: The new cardiobiology: engineering, vascular and molecular insights |
| April 27 - 28, 2026 |
10th annual Stanford Drug Discovery Symposium |
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North American Vascular Biology Organization
18501 Kingshill Road
Germantown, MD 20874-2211
(301) 760-7745
info@navbo.org
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