Call for Abstracts

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 

We are soliciting abstracts for presentation at the 2023 Trainees Only Session (TOS) to be held in the evening on Monday, March 27, 2023, in conjunction with the Celebration of NHLBI Progenitor Cell Research and Translation, March 27-29, 2023, and the Main Meeting Poster Session to be held in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

Fellows and graduate students affiliated with PCTC or former PCBC or LRRC laboratories in the field of heart/vasculature, lung or blood stem and progenitor cell translational research are invited to submit abstracts for presentation at the 2023 TOS or Poster Session. Abstracts selected for presentation will be distributed in the TOS meeting book. All abstracts will be distributed in the main meeting book and posted on the PCTC Web Site (https://translationalcells.org).

Topics: Abstracts on topics of interest in the areas of stem cell, blood, lung, vasculature, and heart translational research are welcome.

Content: Abstracts (350 word limit) should be as specific as possible. Abstracts must describe original research. Abstracts and presentations may NOT be duplicative of any material presented in the Celebration Meeting plenary sessions.

Submission: Each laboratory with investigators in attendance is requested to submit at least one abstract for the Celebration Meeting to be considered for presentation at the TOS or Poster Session. A letter declaring Principal Investigator (PI) approval must accompany abstracts individually or with each group transmitted. The submitter or the PI will send abstracts as both a Word document and a PDF to Ms. Andrea Lefever (alefever@som.umaryland.edu) by the close of business on Wednesday, February 8, 2023.

Review: All abstracts approved by trainee’s PI will be considered for review. A designated committee of Ph.D. candidates and post-doctoral fellows will review all submitted abstracts and select abstracts for oral presentation at the TOS. The oral presentation must be given by a trainee.

Posters and Presentations: All TOS presentations must be given by trainees during the TOS on March 27, 2023. Abstracts not on the TOS agenda for presentation will be in the poster session in the afternoon, on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

General Information: Abstracts will appear in the electronic meeting booklet as submitted. All errors and misspelling are the responsibility of the author. The abstract must contain, in the following order: (a) Title of abstract in all capital letters with no abbreviations, (b) Full name of authors without degrees or titles, (c) Institutional affiliation, city, state or country of authors (no postal codes), and (d) Text of the abstract. The abstract text must not exceed 350 words. Title, author names, and institutional affiliations do not count towards this word limit. No more than one (1) figure permitted in the abstract; figure legend word count will be counted towards the total number of words (350) allowed.

·       The presenting author must register for the meeting.

Rules for Submitting an Abstract

·       Submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment by the author(s) to present it in the TOS if selected.

·       The presenter must be one of the co-authors listed and must be a trainee.

Preparing an Abstract

Abstract Title

·       The abstract title conveys to the reader what the study is about. The title should not be misleading and must pertain to research hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusions of the study.

·       The title may be in the form of a question or may be formatted to suggest the conclusions, if appropriate.

·       A short, concise title is preferable as it may more easily catch a reader’s attention.

·       Do not use abbreviations in the title.

Abstract Data

·       Proofread abstracts carefully to avoid errors before submission. The abstract will be published in the meeting booklet as it has been submitted.

Abstract Text

·       Use a standard Arial 11-point typeface.

·       Briefly describe the objectives of the study unless they are contained in the title. Include a brief statement of methods if pertinent. State findings in detail sufficient to support conclusions.

·       Abstracts should not describe research in which the chemical identity or source of the reagent is proprietary or cannot be revealed.

·       Use generic names.

·       Do not begin sentences with numerals.

·       Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Nonstandard abbreviations (kept to a minimum) must be placed in parentheses after the first use of the word or phrase abbreviated.

·       Do not include references, credits or grant support.

·       Do not include the names or personal information of any patient.

·       Abstract body and legend text are limited to 350 words. The title, author list, and institutional affiliations do not count towards this word limit. All figure graphics (figures) and text-based graphics (tables) should be provided as 72 dpi, pre-sized jpg images, with a maximum width of 450 pixels. Only .jpg images should be submitted. Black-and-white digital images should be in grayscale mode. Color images should be saved in RGB color mode. One figure or table per abstract only.

General Suggestions

Authors

·       Authorship credit should be awarded only to those individuals who substantially contribute to: 1) conception and design or analysis and interpretation of the data; and 2) drafting of the abstract or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the abstract submitted (i.e., U01 Principal Investigator). Participation solely in the collection of data does not justify authorship.

·       To allow more space for scientific material, avoid including postal codes in the author and institution listing.

·       If the author is named on more than one abstract in the meeting program, the author’s name must be identical on each abstract.

Purpose

·       The introductory sentence(s) may state a research hypothesis, purpose, or objective. Alternatively, the sentence(s) may state the current evidence for a particular finding. A hypothesis is a supposition or conjecture used as a basis for further investigations. The purpose is a statement of the reason for conducting a particular project. The objective is the end result that the scientist is trying to achieve by conducting a particular experiment.

·       This part of the abstract should be limited to one to three sentences.

Methods

·       Included in these sentences may be a description of the study population (e.g., human subjects or animal species) and outcome variables (e.g., cell fates).

·       Analytical techniques (e.g., HPLC, surface marker assays, immunohistochemistry, in vitro system), as well as frequency and collection procedures for sample procurement, should be described. A brief description of statistical methods may be included.

Results

·       The results should be stated succinctly to support only the research hypothesis or conclusions made. Most scientists choose a numerical presentation of the results with statistical significance indicated by p-values. Standard deviations, standard errors of the mean, or ranges should be presented where appropriate.

·       Tables should have no more than four columns.

Conclusions

·       The conclusion(s) should be brief, highlight the impact of the research, and follow the methods and results in a logical fashion. A common mistake is to restate results in this section. Rather, the utility of the data and their potential role in the management of patients should be emphasized.

·       New information or conclusions not supported by data in the results section should be avoided.

Common Mistakes

1. Failure to state the hypothesis. We advise a formal statement such as, “We assessed the hypothesis that … “
2. Failure to state a conclusion. We encourage a final sentence that says: “In conclusion…”
3. Failure to state sample size. The reviewers want to assess the quality of the data – they need a mean, SEM, and a sample size.
4. Do not use complex graphics. Simple line or bar graphs work best. Make sure the font is adequate on each axis to be seen. Check a printed version of the abstract before submitting.
5. Do not leave abstract writing until the 11^th hour – this increases the stress and leads to errors.
6. Work that is duplicative is not well received.
7. Show your abstract to colleagues prior to submission – incorporate their suggestions.