International Cardiovascular Development, Anatomy and Regeneration Meeting

21-23 October 2026 | i3S, Porto

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, it is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 International Cardiovascular Development, Anatomy and Regeneration Meeting (ICDAR26), hosted in the historic and lively city of Porto. We are delighted to gather this exceptional community of researchers at i3S - Institute for Research and Innovation in Health.

ICDAR has always been more than a meeting; it is a space where ideas accelerate, collaborations take shape, and scientific curiosity thrives. We anticipate that ICDAR 26 will be particularly dynamic. Through keynote lectures, oral and poster presentations, and informal discussions, we will explore the latest advances in cardiac morphogenesis, cellular and extracellular mechanisms of cardiac development, iPSC derived-cardiomyocytes and cardiac models and emerging strategies for heart repair and regeneration.

This meeting is a forum designed to inspire, where scientific discussions unfold in an informal and genuinely welcoming atmosphere. We warmly encourage PhD students and young postdocs to submit their most recent and exciting results as a substantial number of submitted abstracts will be selected for oral presentations!

Porto, with its rich cultural heritage and strong commitment to research and innovation, provides an excellent setting for this meeting. Whether you are joining us for the first time or returning to a familiar community, we invite you to engage fully with the scientific program and take the time to appreciate the distinctive character of our host city.

We are honored by your presence and grateful for your contributions to this vibrant field. May ICDAR26 be a meeting that sparks new ideas, strengthens collaborations, and leaves you energized for the work ahead.

Welcome to ICDAR 26 and welcome to Porto.

Let us make this a meeting to remember!

Diana S Nascimento
Perpétua Pinto-do-Ó

Poster >> 

If you like to plan ahead, make sure to mark your calendars for the 2027 Weinstein Cardiovascular Development & Regeneration Conference, co-organized with the International Cardiovascular Development, Anatomy and Regeneration Meeting (ICDAR).

The meeting will be held at i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde.
Rua Alfredo Allen, 208; 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Tel: +351 226 074 900 | Site: http://www.i3s.up.pt/ | E-mail: events@i3s.up.pt
GPS coordinates: 41º 10’ 30.008’’ N, 8º 36’ 12.488’’ W.

Organization:
Diana S Nascimento (Chair)
Elsa D Silva
Maria Cardona-Timoner
Perpétua Pinto-do-Ó (Chair)

International Scientific Committee:
Adrian Ruiz-Villalba - Malaga, Spain
Anke Smits - Leiden, The Netherlands 
Antonio Baldini - Naples, Italy
Bill Chaudhry - Newcastle University, United Kingdom 
Chris Derrick - Newcastle, UK
David Sedmera - Prague, Czech Republic
Joaquim Nunes Vieira - London, UK
Lucile Houyel - Paris, France
Lucile Miquerol - Marseille, France
Marc-Phillip Hitz - Oldenburg, Germany
Marina Campione - Padua, Italy
Melanie Philipp - Tubingen, Germany
Monique Jongbloed - Leiden, The Netherlands

Link to download the program >>

Miguel Torres, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC)

Miguel Torres scientific career has focused on embryonic development, organogenesis and regeneration. Following Biology Studies and a PhD at the CIB-CSIC, Madrid, he specialized in mouse genetics at the MPI in Goettingen. In 1996 he established a research group in the National Center for Biotechnology, Madrid. He relocated to the National Center for Cardiovacular Research (CNIC, Madrid), where he was appointed founding director of the Department of Cardiovascular Development and Repair in 2007 and Associate Director in 2009. For the last 30 years his group has contributed important discoveries and established new concepts in Developmental and Regenerative Biology, publishing over 125 scientific articles. Dr Torres has been distinguished with the Pfizer prize in Basic Science (2013), EMBO membership (2019) and the Genetics National Award (2025), among others. He has coordinated 6 international consortia funded by EC, Human Frontiers Program, Leducq Foundation and COST. Currently, he is Senior Scientist and Coordinator of the Cardiovascular Regeneration Program in CNIC. 

Rashmi Priya, Francis Crick Institute

Rashmi Priya is a Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute. Her lab’s overall goal is to understand how organ form and function emerge during embryonic development. By combining the excellent tractability of the developing zebrafish heart with cross-disciplinary approaches from cell biology, biophysics, and theoretical modelling, Rashmi’s lab has made significant conceptual progress in understanding how a functional heart is built. Her team has uncovered cellular and mechanical transitions driving functional maturation of the heart (PMID: 40774252) and recently reported how mechanical fracturing of the extracellular matrix patterns the developing myocardial tissue (bioRxiv 2025.03.07.641942). Additionally, her lab is currently exploring several other questions, including how nuclei and cells adapt their mechanical properties to cope with the dynamic forces of a beating heart, how macroscopic trabecular architecture is established and how the heart senses how much to grow and regrow.

Thomas Braun, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research

Thomas Braun is director at the Max-Planck-Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Bad Nauheim, Germany and Professor of Medicine at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany. He studied medicine and philosophy at the Universities of Göttingen and Hamburg, where he obtained his MD and MD PhD. After postdoctoral training in Hamburg and in Boston in the lab of Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute, MIT, he held professorships at the Technical University of Braunschweig, the University of Würzburg and the University of Halle-Wittenberg. In 2004 he was recruited by the Max-Planck-Society as founding director of the newly established Max-Planck-Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim. Since 2004 he is also Professor of Medicine at the University of Giessen, Germany. So far, he has published more than 400 papers in leading journals including Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Immunology Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Developmental Cell, Cell Metabolism, EMBO J, Circulation, Circ. Res. and others. His primary research currently focuses on the mechanisms driving skeletal and cardiac muscle development, regeneration and remodeling. He serves on various committees and advisory boards in Germany and abroad and is elected member of the German National Academy of Science, Leopoldina and the Academy of Europe. In 2025 Thomas Braun served as STEM Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and was appointed as Advisory Professor at HUST, Wuhan, China.

23rd of October

Visit to the Port Wine Cellars (V.N. Gaia)
More details will be announced soon

Dinner at Sancho Panza Restaurant
Av. de Ramos Pinto 250, 4400-261 Vila Nova de Gaia

Late poster submissions will be accepted until 15 August 2026.

Abstracts should be structured according to the following template:

Abstract template »

Abstract submission form »

Registration fee includes coffee breaks, lunches (22nd and 23rd October) and social program. Accommodation is not included in the registration fee.

Registration fees:

*Students/post-docs should enclose a letter confirming their status signed by their supervisors or other documents that prove their status.

Registration form »

Non-European participants will have the possibility to pay the fee using PayPal. Participants who wish to use this payment option should contact the Events Management Unit using the e-mail events@i3s.up.pt, after completing the registration.

Suggestions for accommodation in Porto >>

Diamond Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

More information:
Events Management Unit | Rua Alfredo Allen 208 | 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Email: events@i3s.up.pt | Tel: +351 226 074 900