This is the third and final issue of Progress in Pediatric Cardiology that reports results from the scientific conference on future research directions for children with idiopathic or primary cardiomyopathies that was held in Bethesda, Maryland in January 2007. The conference was sponsored by the Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute with additional support from the Genzyme Corporation and the Department of Pediatrics of Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. In this issue we begin with the results from the expert roundtable discussions regarding future directions in pediatric cardiomyopathy research in the areas of genetics, epidemiology and clinical care.
Topics in this issue include an update on the NHLBI funded Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry, stem cell therapies, signalosomes, familial dilated cardiomyopathy, cardiomyopathy related to fatty acid metabolism, peripartum and restrictive cardiomyopathy, and exercise rehabilitation and comprehensive care for children with cardiomyopathy.
The editors wish to acknowledge the outstanding support of the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) and its president and founder Ms. Lisa Yue for continuing and unwavering support for pediatric cardiomyopathy research. Ms. Yue, with the CCF, has been the primary proponent and principal financial underwriter of the January 2007 conference held in Bethesda noted above. We also wish to recognize Pauline Pierrot and Talitha Hill from CCF whose considerable efforts made the conference possible, as well as the financial support from the Genzyme Corporation. Also, the editors wish to express their gratitude to Ms. Mitzi Wilkinson, Ms. Kathryn Deane, Mr. Jorge Alvarez, and Ms. Natalya Bublik from the Department of Pediatrics of Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami for their invaluable efforts in the planning, conduct and dissemination of the results of this important conference. Finally, we wish to thank Dr. Gail Pearson and Dr. Pothur R. Srinivas of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for their expertise and support for the Bethesda conference.
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