Hypothermia — From Threat to Cure

Long considered a threat to survival, hypothermia has received a considerable new look and use in clinical settings in the past 20 years. Recent animal and clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of using hypothermia to treat cardiac arrest and offer a promising treatment paradigm for acute ischemic stroke.

Hypothermia: From Threat to Cure, a one-day conference will increase our understanding of the clinical benefits of hypothermia by examining it as an integrated biological response of the organism. This interdisciplinary meeting will first look at current clinical applications of hypothermia in settings such as neurocritical intensive care units, cardiac surgery, and animal experiments. Hypothermia will then be examined through the perspectives of cellular, thermal, and evolutionary biology. Participants will explore evidence found in biological, cellular, and molecular processes such as thermoregulation, energy metabolism, and immunology.

Questions addressed during this meeting will include: What determines whether cells live or die? What specific biological benefits accrue from turning the brain off with cold? How does temperature regulation affect the elderly (a large percentage of the stroke population)? What is the biological phenomenon of hibernations? How does cold regulate the biology of the individual — and from a larger perspective — how has the human species evolved to adapt to cold? These questions and more will be addressed in this comprehensive exploration of a powerful new tool in medicine and biology.

Scientific Organizing Committee

• Jae H. Choi, MD, Columbia University Medical Center
• John Pile-Spellman, MD, Columbia University Medical Center

Presented by

Sponsored by

Gold

• Dana Foundation

Academy Friends

• Siemens Healthcare
• Cordis Neurovascular, Inc