Jacobs School Hosts 2025 International Symposium on Cerebrovascular Disease

By Dirk Hoffman

The 21st Interdisciplinary Cerebrovascular Symposium (ICS) was chaired by Vincent M. Tutino, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, and neurosurgery.

The ICS was established in 2004 by Daniel A. Rüfenacht, MD; Pedro Lylyk, MD; and Makoto Ohta, PhD; as the Intracranial Stent meeting. This gathering brought together clinicians, scientists, engineers, and industry professionals, united by a shared goal: to explore, develop, and implement innovative treatment strategies for intracranial vascular diseases.

Over the years, the symposium evolved significantly and has become a platform that nurtures interdisciplinary dialogue, fostering collaboration among experts from diverse fields, all dedicated to enhancing the understanding and treatment of cerebrovascular disease.

Tutino says since the ICS was started as a collaboration between a Swiss surgeon, an Argentinian surgeon and a Japanese researcher, the organizing/scientific committee has always made sure it stays truly international and rotates between Europe, the Americas and Asia.

At the 2024 symposium in Finland, Tutino was asked by the committee to host this year’s conference.

The focus of ICS2025 was centered around the cutting-edge intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases and featured presenters and participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, China and Uzbekistan.

This year’s topics focused on:

• AI and precision medicine for cerebrovascular disease
• Data integrity, fusion and harmonization
• Next-generation medical devices
• Genetics and cellular mechanics of neurovascular disease

Tutino says the ICS has always been about having sessions that included multiple perspectives — specifically including clinical, engineering, and basic science (biology) talks and encouraging cross-discipline discussions. 

“The uniqueness of the symposium lies in the deep engagement it fosters among participants,” he says. “This multidisciplinary approach is complemented by dynamic discussions that encourage the exchange of ideas and insights, allowing attendees to gain a richer understanding of the subject matter.”

As advancements in AI continue to evolve, the symposium will explore how these technologies can be harnessed to better understand disease mechanisms, enhance diagnostic accuracy of novel biomarkers, improve patient-specific treatment plans, and drive the future of personalized health care, Tutino says.

“I think AI is involved in almost every aspect of science now,” he says. “That is why we devoted two sessions to discuss big data projects and predictive analytics.”

The three-day conference featured seven keynote addresses, as well as 59 abstracts and 24 research posters.

Conference co-hosts who helped invite keynote speakers and recruit sponsorships were:

• Ciprian N. “Chip” Ionita, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and neurosurgery
• John E. Tomaszewski, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Peter A. Nickerson, PhD, Professor and Chair of pathology and anatomical sciences
• Daniel Woo, MD, professor and Irvin and Rosemary Smith Endowed Chair of neurology

Kerry E. Poppenberg, PhD, a research scientist in the Department of Neurosurgery, also played an integral role in setting up and assisting in running the conference.

The keynote speakers were a mix of Buffalo and Rochester people, along with faculty members from Johns Hopkins University and the executive director of the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.

“The keynote speakers were selected based on the topics of the ICS,” Tutino notes. “This year we had some special sessions (on intracranial hemorrhage, venous pathology, and entrepreneurship) so we chose some national and local speakers who could speak best to these topics.”

“UB and the Jacobs Institute are special in how innovation is cultivated so we wanted to showcase that entrepreneurial landscape,” he adds. Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of neurosurgery and chief executive officer and chief medical officer at the Jacobs Institute; and Carlos Pena, PhD, chief regulatory officer and chief quality officer at the Jacobs Institute, presented the address.

Woo invited Dan Hanley Jr., MD; and Wendy C. Ziai, MD; from Johns Hopkins to speak on intracranial hemorrhage; and the keynote from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s Christine Buckley was to enrich the aneurysm session with a broader patient perspective, Tutino says.

Tomaszewski also gave a keynote on the role of biobanking in facilitating cerebrovascular research and Rashad Hussain, PhD, of the University of Rochester, spoke on post-traumatic brain injury pathophysiological changes in vasculature and glymphatic impairment.

“I think our emphasis on community building this ICS was particularly strong. In addition to the international collaborators and friends who came we had many come from local areas such as Rochester, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati,” Tutino says.

The symposium not only gave the hosts a chance to highlight the Jacobs School, but also the city of Buffalo as well.

“The event was quite important to the Jacobs School — it is a longstanding international conference, so we wanted to make a good impression,” Tutino says. “In addition to including keynotes from Drs. Siddiqui and Tomaszewski that highlighted the school, the Jacobs Institute, the Gates Vascular Institute and the core facilities, we also featured a lot about Buffalo in general.”

“We hosted several excursions featuring our region — a harbor cruise the night before the conference, a Maid of the Mist excursion, and a tour of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum before the final reception. Overall, the impressions were extremely positive.”