VAC 2027

speakers Thursday 11 march

 

Claudio A. Franco

 

Group Leader at Católica Biomedical Research Centre, Associate Professor at Católica Medical School, Portugal

 
Cláudio A. Franco graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Porto and completed his PhD in Protein Structure and Function at Paris VI University, followed by postdoctoral training in vascular biology in the laboratory of Holger Gerhardt in London. He is currently Group Leader and Vice-Director at the Católica Biomedical Research Centre and Associate Professor at Católica Medical School in Lisbon. His laboratory investigates the fundamental mechanisms governing blood vessel formation and function, combining genetics, advanced imaging, bioengineering, computational modelling and AI-based image analysis to understand vascular disease. His work has contributed to the discovery of flow-migration coupling, the identification of dactylopodia, and the demonstration that physical and chemical cues compete to shape endothelial behaviour and vascular morphogenesis.

 

Sabine Bailly

 
Group leader at the Biology of Cancer & Infection laboratory at CEA/INSERM, Grenoble Alpes University, France

Dr Sabine Bailly is a director of research at the INSERM Institute (Grenoble, France). She is working on the ALK1 signaling pathway and Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangectasia (HHT). In 2007, her group identified the two high affinity ligands for the endothelial receptors ALK1 and endoglin, which are BMP9 and BMP10. Using Alk1, Bmp9 and Bmp10-knockout mouse models, they showed that circulating BMP9 and BMP10 induce vascular quiescence. Her group is also involved in translational research. They have developed genetic functional tests for ALK1, Endoglin, SMAD4, BMP9 and BMP10 genes mutated in HHT and are involved in several HHT clinical trials with the group of Dr Sophie Dupuis-Girod in Lyon (French HHT reference Center). She is internationally recognized in the field of BMP signaling, vascular remodeling and HHT.

 

Paloma Triana

 

Consultant Pediatric Surgeon, Pediatric Plastic Surgery Section and Vascular Anomalies Unit, La Paz Children’s Hospital, Madrid, Spain

 

Paloma Triana, MD, PhD, is a Consultant Pediatric Surgeon at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, Spain, with subspecialty expertise in Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Vascular Anomalies. Her clinical and research work focuses on vascular anomalies, congenital malformations, and giant congenital nevi. She has extensive experience in targeted therapies for vascular anomalies, including sirolimus, alpelisib, trametinib, and rebastinib, and has participated as investigator in multiple international clinical trials, including the EPIK and RLY-2608 programs. She obtained her PhD with honours (Cum Laude) in 2023 for her research on sirolimus treatment in vascular anomalies. She founded and currently chairs the Pediatric Vascular Anomalies Committee at La Paz University Hospital. She has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and is a frequent invited speaker at national and international vascular anomalies meetings.

 

Antoni Riera-Mestre

 

Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Spain

 

Bio

 

Laurence Boon

 

Coordinator of the Centre for Vascular Malformations, Division of Plastic Surgery, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium

 

Dr. Laurence Boon, MD, PhD, is a Clinical Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCLouvain and leads the Multidisciplinary Center for Vascular Anomalies at Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels. Specializing in vascular anomalies, she integrates treatment with translational research. Her notable leadership includes roles as Vice President, President, and Past President of the ISSVA, and she currently co-chairs the VASCA Working Group at VASCERN. A member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium since 2015, Dr. Boon leads multinational clinical research, including phase III trials on therapies like sirolimus. Recognized with awards such as the INBEV-Baillet Latour Prize and the Gagna and Van Heck International Prize, she has authored numerous publications, supported by an H-index of 61 (Scopus) and 72 (Google Scholar). Dr. Boon co-founded VASCAPA, advocating for patients, and collaborates with genetics labs to innovate patient care in vascular malformations.