How Poster Presentations Are Vital to the Conference

Gaganpreet Kaur

The poster presentation provides an excellent platform to communicate research findings and promote networking visually. Poster presentation helps make clever use of time and space for scientific discussion among conference attendees, thus are beneficially for both presenter and the conference organizer1,2. The outbreak of COVID-19 dramatically changed our lives, especially traveling and gatherings. With most scientific conferences online or hybrid, we now have an option of “e-posters”. Instead of printing your poster, you can submit a PDF version and insert a 2 to 5 minutes long video discussing your poster. In my opinion, e-posters are more beneficial as they allow you to share your work from the comfort of your home. Besides, speaking from personal experience, you can present your work at more conferences and across the borders without worrying about funding.

What are the benefits of poster/e-poster presentation, and why should you consider doing it?1

  1. Posters offer the opportunity to network and communicate with other attendees from your field, leading to collaborations and job offers. My own postdoctoral offer results from a conversation during a poster session.
  2. Due to time constraints and limited slot availability, not every trainee receives a chance for oral presentation. However, poster session allows a vast majority of trainees to share their work. Besides, question & answer session for oral presentation is typically 5 to 10 minutes and does not allow in-depth conversations. Conversely, poster sessions usually last a couple of hours, thus providing a platform for more extended discussion without time constraints.
  3. You can discuss specific aspects of your research receive detailed critiques, and impartial discussion/review by peers that can help you improve your work, ideas, or potential manuscripts. It can even provide you a new direction for your project.
  4. Poster presentations are an excellent platform to improve your presentation skills. One advantage is that those poster sessions allow you to explain your research differently. You can present as short as 3 minutes but can go up to 15-20 minutes. You also learn to communicate your work visually and verbally to a broader audience.
  5. In my opinion, abstracts and poster presentations are one of the ways to show your potential employees that you are active in the scientific community and participate in the meeting. Besides, almost all the conferences have poster awards thus, you have an opportunity to keep a feather in your cap or, should I say, resume.

What are some of the things to keep in mind for poster/e-poster presentation? 

Remember, the poster’s purpose is to visually communicate the latest research in a quick, efficient, and effective manner2. One should design your poster considering the readers and venue, especially doing an e-poster. Most people will view e-poster from their laptop screen; therefore, font size needs to be adjusted so that they don’t have trouble reading. Besides, a person might stop on your poster for less than a minute before deciding whether to engage in in-depth conversation or not. Therefore, I cannot emphasize enough the inclusion of graphical abstract, and your overall poster should synchronize as an illustrated abstract of your work. For more tips for designing a poster, please read a detailed article by Dr. Adam M. Persky2.

Two personal tips, something I learned over the year, are that:

  1. Don’t hesitate to invite people to your poster, especially when doing an e-poster. I have had valuable input to my projects from every person I invited to my e-poster. It helped me build my network too.
  2. Prepare your talk based on your audience. Suppose you attend a general regional conference, where people from all fields of science like engineering and biology are coming. In that case, you should be ready with a layman summary of your work so that people from other fields can understand your work. However, if you are going to conferences focused on your area of research, then you can include detailed results.

What are Vascular Discovery 2022 abstract submission categories?

  • Aortic Aneurysm Disease
  • Apolipoproteins and Lipid Metabolism
  • Blood Coagulation, Platelet Function and Antithrombotic Therapy
  • Cardiovascular Precision Medicine
  • COVID-19
  • Functional Genomics and Epigenetics in Vascular Disease
  • Immune Mechanisms of Atherosclerosis
  • Immunity and Inflammation in Vascular Biology
  • Metabolic Disorders and Atherosclerosis
  • Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Atherosclerosis
  • Molecular, Developmental and Cellular Biology of Vessel Wall
  • Peripheral Artery Disease, Carotid Artery Disease and Stroke
  • Population Science and Genetics in Vascular Discovery
  • Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Disease
  • Therapeutic Targets in Atherosclerosis
  • Venous Thromboembolism and Lymphatic Disease

What are the Vascular Discovery 2022 poster award categories?

  • Kenneth M. Brinkhous Young Investigator Prize in Thrombosis and the Irvine H. Page Young Investigator Research Award: Finalists will receive a chance to present oral abstracts during the meeting, and winners will be announced during council dinner. The Brinkhaus Prize recognizes outstanding endeavors in thrombosis, whereas the Page Award encourages investigators to continue careers in arteriosclerosis and vascular biology. Both awards are aimed to recognize new investigators.
  • ATVB Emerging Scientist Award for Women is sponsored by the ATVB Women’s Leadership Committee and recognizes excellent research conducted by women in the field of arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology. The finalists will present their abstracts during the poster session, give a 2-minute rapid-fire presentation during the Mentor of Women Award Luncheon, and the winner will be announced during the Council Dinner.
  • ATVB Investigators in Training Award recognizes pre-doctoral and postdoctoral in arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology who are members of the ATVB Council. The finalists will present their poster abstracts, and the winner will be announced at the Council Dinner.
  • ATVB Diversity Outreach Travel Grants encourages minority, early career investigators and students, to participate in the Vascular Discovery: From Genes to Medicine Scientific Sessions
  • 2 awards sponsored by the PVD Council (these are not competitions, and the winners will be recognized during the Council Dinner):
    • The Alan T. Hirsch, MD Mid-Career Award in Vascular Medicine supports mid-career level investigators studying the peripheral vascular disease. This award encourages participation in the PVD Council and AHA activities by providing travel funds to attend the Vascular Discovery: From Genes to Medicine Scientific Sessions, present research in oral or poster format, and engage in discussion with senior investigators.
    • The Robert W. Hobson, II, MD Early Career Investigator Award recognizes excellence in basic or clinical science in early career investigators in vascular and endovascular medicine, vascular surgery, or vascular biology.

Registration for the Vascular Discovery Conference is now open. Advance pricing opens on 4/1.  Register now for the best price!

REFERENCE

  1. Lab O. 7 reasons why you should present posters at a conference. Accessed March 20, 2022. https://people.clas.ufl.edu/oppenhe/2014/06/09/7-reasons-why-you-should-present-posters-at-a-conference/
  2. Persky AM. Scientific Posters: A Plea from a Conference Attendee. Am J Pharm Educ. Dec 25 2016;80(10):162. doi:10.5688/ajpe8010162

“The views, opinions, and positions expressed within this blog are those of the author(s) alone and do not represent those of the American Heart Association. The accuracy, completeness, and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them. The Early Career Voice blog is not intended to provide medical advice or treatment. Only your healthcare provider can provide that. The American Heart Association recommends that you consult your healthcare provider regarding your health matters. If you think you are having a heart attack, stroke, or another emergency, please call 911 immediately.”