Events

Cardiovascular Day

Dalton partners with scientists at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources, and College of Engineering strive for excellence in cardiovascular research. The purpose of this research is to gain a more fundamental understanding of cardiovascular function to enhance therapy and discover new drugs to treat these diseases.

Cardiovascular Day presents an opportunity to share information from these collaborative research efforts relating to cardiovascular research at Mizzou with colleagues, the university community, area physicians, and other colleges and universities in the region.

An archive of prior CV Day programs can be seen here.

2026 – 33rd Annual Cardiovascular Day

Wednesday, February 18th, 2026
Hilton Inn Garden Conference Center

View the full CVDay program.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Julie Freed

Associate Professor; Executive Vice Chair; Director of Clinical Research
Medical College of Wisconsin
Dr. Freed’s research primarily focuses on the role that sphingolipids have in the development of endothelial dysfunction in the human microcirculation. Elevated plasma levels of ceramide, a prototypical sphingolipid, is now considered an independent risk factor for major adverse cardiovascular events in otherwise healthy people. The Freed lab is currently investigating how these bioactive lipids are regulated in human endothelial cells.
As a cardiac anesthesiologist, Dr. Freed is also interested in intraoperative blood pressure control including mechanisms and treatments of vasoplegia. Other interests include translating her work in the lab to improve outcomes for surgical patients.
For more information, visit Dr. Freed’s Lab website.

Invited speakers:

  • Sandy Saunders, PhD – Postdoctoral Fellow, Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center
  • Soumiya Pal, PhD – Postdoctoral Fellow, Medical Pharmicology and Physiology
  • Daniel Credeur, PhD – Associate Teaching Professor, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology
  • Teresa Pitts, PhD – Professor and Chair, Speech Language and Hearing Sciences; Dalton Cardiovascular Center
  • Marc Augenreich – Graduate Student, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology PhD Program
  • Andrew Behrmann – MD/PhD Student, Integrative Physiology, Translational Biosciences PhD Program

Contest Winners

Poster Winners
Undergrad

First Place – Ava Fleury

Graduate

First Place – Marc Augenreich

Second Place – Eryn Wagoner

Post Doctoral/Resident

First Place – Fateme Mericle

Second Place – Jessica Cayton

Flash Talk Winners

First Place – Cecile El-Borgi

APS Undergraduate Student Poster Award

Ava Fleury

Laughlin Scholarship Award

Alexa Krause

Steffen Interdisciplinary Physiology Award

Safa

Event Committee members:
Darla Tharp, PhD – Committee Chair and PIBS representative
Jeffrey Boychuk, PhD – Dalton and PIBS representative
Charles Norton, PhD – MPP representative
Alejandro Chade, MD – NextGen and SOM representative
Jacqueline Limberg, PhD – NEP representative
Samuel Martin – Trainee representative
Karol Dinwiddie – PIBS representative
Laura McClaskey – NextGen representative
Mackenzie Lynch – NextGen representative
Darius Miller – NEP representative
Lisa Putting – MPP representative
Thomas Malloy – Dalton representative
John Donahue – IT planning and support representative

You can contact the CVDay Committee at mucvday@missouri.edu.