This post was authored by Payal Kohli, MD, fellow-in-training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

With the abundance of science at every meeting, I’ve often wondered why they even have poster sessions, which end up being heavily neglected and sparsely attended, sometimes even by the authors themselves. This year, something about the way the poster session was organized seems to have changed that completely and it was packed.

Maybe it was a theme of the meeting itself. Every room seemed to be overflowing, people lining up to see the science this year. Maybe it's the gorgeous city of San Francisco, which has drawn people from all over the world. Maybe it was because the posters were centrally located near the free coffee from sponsors. Who knows? All I know is that the well-organized, cozy poster session was a real treat this year.

I spent my time in the prevention track, since my interests are rapidly evolving towards that direction.  I think what struck me the most about the posters that I saw in the prevention track was the sheer number—there were dozens! This was a good sign as the promotion of health is becoming the focus of the science of tomorrow, as Dr. Fuster noted in his opening lecture.

The second thing that really stood out was the formation of Prevention groups across the country, such as the Ciccarone Center at Johns Hopkins University, which is under the supervision of Dr. Roger Blumenthal. These types of groups may be trailblazing the way for groups focused on optimal research and clinical delivery of prevention. And many of my co-fellows who belong to this group are lucky to be in a rich collaborative environment such as this, where their name appears on not just one, not just two but sometimes three or four posters, allowing them to be involved in multiple projects at the same time and delve into their research from many different angles.

What struck you most about the poster sessions?

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