The Drug Information Association (DIA) will be hosting its 48th annual meeting next month, from June 24-28th, in Philadelphia, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. DIA recently announced its distinguished list of speakers and presenters, including award-winning inventor Dean Kamen, best known for creating the Segway(TM) Human Transporter, who will serve as the keynote speaker.
Kamen is founder and president of DEKA Research & Development Corporation, which works to foster innovation in medicine, engineering and other industries. Kamen holds more than 440 US and foreign patents, many of them for revolutionary medical devices used by health care systems and professionals worldwide, including a movable prosthetic arm and a wheelchair that can climb stairs. Advancing the conference theme “Collaborate to Innovate,” Kamen will lead DIA’s meeting with the goal of fostering partnerships that may lead to promising concepts and research into new patient therapies. He will provide the keynote address on June 25 at 8:00am.
The DIA 2012 48th Annual Meeting features:
- 270+ offerings, 20 preconference tutorials, and interactive workshops
- Global regulatory agency town halls
- Patient Advocate Fellowship Program
- Student and professional poster presentations
- Multitrack plenary sessions
- Executive sessions
- Networking events and lunches
- One of the industry’s largest exhibit halls
Other highlighted speakers will include:
Thomas P. Stossel, MD, Director, Translational Medicine Unit and Center for Medical Innovation Brigham & Women’s Hospital. For his research on mechanism of cell motility Dr. Stossel was elected to The National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Institute of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He has licensed intellectual property to startup companies based on his research to develop products that may reduce critical care complications and improve blood platelet transfusion.
He is a co-founder of The Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators (ACRE) that educates concerning the value of physician-industry relationships. For his policy work concerning this topic he received the Sherwood award of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and the McGovern Award of the American Medical Writers Association. With his wife, Kerry Maguire, DDS, MSPH and others, Stossel founded a nonprofit organization, Options for Children in Zambia, which provides voluntary dental and medical care in that country. He will be speaking about the Implementation of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act on June 27 at 3:30pm.
Freda Lewis-Hall, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Pfizer Inc. Lewis-Hall leads Pfizer’s medical division, which is responsible for the safe and effective use of Pfizer health products. Before joining Pfizer, she held senior leadership positions with Vertex, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacia and Lilly. She has led research projects for the National Institutes of Health and served as vice chairperson and associate professor of the department of psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine. She will be speaking about Meta-collaborations: A Call to Action on June 26 at 8:00am.
Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Park is responsible for helping HHS leadership harness the power of data, technology and innovation to improve the health and welfare of the nation. He co-founded Athenahealth in 1997 and led the health information technology company to become one of the most socially-oriented and successful in the industry. Prior to Athenahealth, he served as a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton focusing on health care strategy, technology and operations.
Guido Rasi, Executive Director of the European Union, European Medicines Agency (EMA). Before joining EMA, Rasi served as director-general of the Italian Medicines Agency, and previously worked in research at the Institute for Experimental Medicine of the National Research Council in Rome, where he directed the molecular medicine department. Rasi attended the University of Rome and holds a degree in surgery and medicine, with specialization in allergology, clinical immunology and internal medicine; he is a full professor of microbiology at the University. On June 25 at 10:00am Rasi will chair a session on push-button regulatory topics that are currently trending in Europe.
Stephen P. Spielberg, Deputy Commissioner of Medical Products and Tobacco for the US FDA, Office of the Commissioner. Spielberg, a world-renowned researcher in academic medicine, was executive director of exploratory biochemical toxicology and clinical and regulatory development for Merck Research Laboratories, and vice president for pediatric drug development at Johnson & Johnson. He chaired the Pediatric Task Force for PhRMA, represented the pharmaceutical industry on the FDA Pediatric Advisory Subcommittee, and was the Rapporteur for the Pediatric ICH Initiative (ICH E-11) to harmonize pediatric drug development regulations among Europe, Japan and the US. He will be speaking about Meta-collaborations: A Call to Action on June 26 at 8:00am.