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Pexieder Award

This award had been named in tribute to Tomas Pexieder, founder and first Co-Chairman of the Working Group on Development Anatomy and Pathology, formerly named "Embryology and Teratology". It is delivered to the best oral presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Working Group. 

Abstracts submitted to the Cardiovascular Development Meeting are selected by the scientific committee for oral presentation. Best oral presentation is then awarded with the Pexieder prize.

Who was Thomas Pexieder

Tomas Pexieder (1941 – 1995) was a prominent cardiovascular embryologist of Czech origin (1). He spent most of his career at the Institute of Histology and Embryology in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he ended up after fleeing the country with his family after the Soviet invasion in 1968. His pioneering work in the 1970s was focused on proliferation and cell death in the developing outflow tract as a basis for congenital heart defects. Later he developed a standardized fixation and microdissection protocol for analysis of normal and abnormal embryonic hearts using scanning electron microscopy, and unified the nomenclature in this area. He further expanded his activities to include a hotline for gynaecologists based upon a human teratogen network, and participated in a human in vitro fertilization research programme. At the scientific meetings, he was remembered as an avid disputant, asking all those tough (and sometimes unpleasant) questions that we hear so seldom these days. The Pexieder award of the ESC Working group on Development, Anatomy and Pathology (of which he was a long-time member) is given to the best platform presentation by a junior investigator.

(1) Ann Anat (1996) 178:197-199

Discover Professor Tomas Pexieder's biography!

Best poster Awards

All abstracts submitted to the Cardiovascular Development Meeting automatically enter for these poster prizes.

Travel Awards

PhD-students and/or Junior Post-Docs (within 3 years after their PhD) can apply for a this award to travel to the Annual Working Group Meeting. 

Applicant must be registered member of the Working Group (if not member yet, you can still join for free now)

More information on the Meeting page

Awards 2016

4 awards have been delivered during the Newcastle Cardiovascular Development Meeting 2016, United Kingdom

Best oral presentations:

 Caroline Choquet, France

Abstract: Lineage analysis of ventricular trabeculae to decipher the role of Nkx2-5 in conduction system development

Caroline Choquet, Robert G. Kelly and Lucile Miquerol

Aix-Marseille University, Developmental Biology Institute of Marseilles, CNRS, Marseilles, France

 Jill Hilkspoors, The Netherlands

Abstract: Development of the (supra-) hepatic portion of the inferior caval vein

Jill PJM Hikspoors (1), Hayelom K Mekonen (1), Nutmethee Kruepunga (1), Mathijs MJP Peeters (1), Greet MC Mommen (1), S Eleonore Köhler (1), Wouter H Lamers (1,2)

1 Department of Anatomy & Embryology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2 Tytgat Institute for Liver and Intestinal Research, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Best poster presentations:

 José Juan Aparicio-Sanchez, United Kingdom

Abstract: Acetylation of TBX5 by KAT2B and KAT2A regulates heart and limb development

José Juan Aparicio-Sánchez, Tushar Ghosh, Tasabeeh Mohamed, Sarah Buxton, Ami Ketley, Catrin Rutland, Siobhan Loughna, David Brook

The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom

 Kate Bailey, United Kingdom

Abstract: Downregulating Rho Kinase (ROCK) in the developing ventricle wall causes early sarcomeric defects which contribute to the development of adult cardiovascular disease

Bailey KE, Blain A, Tual-Chalot S, Mohun T, Bamforth SD, Henderson DJ, Phillips HM

Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom

For more science, access the Abstract Book of the Meeting

Abstract Book 2016

To learn more on the Newcastle Meeting, read the Meeting Report

Meeting Report 2016

Awards 2015

3 awards have been delivered during the Amsterdam Cardiovascular Development Meeting 2015, Netherlands

Best oral presentations:

 Mayyasa Rammah, France

Abstract: Dissecting the regulatory circuitry of complementary progenitor cell contributions to the arterial pole of the heart

Mayyasa Rammah, Magali Théveniau-Ruissy, Francesca Rochais and Robert G Kelly

Aix-Marseille University, Developmental Biology Institute of Marseilles, CNRS, Marseilles, France

 Frédéric Laurent, Switzerland


Abstract: The HAND2 Cistrome in Mouse Embryonic Hearts Identifies its Target Genes During Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transition in the Atrioventricular Canal

Frédéric Laurent(1), Javier Lopez-Rios(1), Marco Osterwalder(1,2) Iros Barozzi2, Dario Speziale(1), Jennifer Akiyama(2), Joy Lincoln(3), Axel Visel(2) Aimée Zuniga(1) and Rolf Zeller(1)

(1)Developmental Genetics, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, CH- 4058 Basel, Switzerland

(2)Genomics Division, MS 84-171, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
(3)Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Best poster presentation:

Ghislaine Lioux, Spain

Abstract: Clonal analysis unravels the Second Heart Field as a source of epicardial-like cells

Lioux G., Temiño S., Torres M.

Cardiovascular Developmental Biology and Repair Department, CNIC, Melchor Fernández Almagro, 3 (28029) Madrid, Spain

To read more, access the Abstract Book of the Meeting

Abstract book 2015

Previous awards were given to:

• Jan Buikema, Leiden (2013)
• Alberto Briones-Leon, Newcastle (2012)
• Nadia Mercader, Madrid (2011)
• Karim Mesbah, Marseilles (2010)
• Ross Breckenridge, London (2009)
• Chiann-Mun Chen, Oxford (2008)
• Jorg Manner (1998)
• Diego Franco, Amsterdam (1996)