Child health experts to gather in Italy for Excellence in Paediatrics conference

Excellence in Paediatrics conference line-up includes WHO and CDC pandemic speakers

Obesity, the flu pandemic and diabetes are just three of the hot topics that will be explored when top child health experts gather in Italy for Excellence in Paediatrics from 3 to 6 December 2009.

More than 70 internationally renowned speakers from paediatric centres of excellence in 20 countries have already confirmed their participation in the programme, which will cover cutting-edge topics on everything from autism, asthma and allergies to child abuse, genetic profiling and passive smoking.

These include experts from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Harvard Medical School, the Cochrane Child Health Field and European Paediatric Association.

"Child health is an exciting and fast-moving area of clinical expertise" says Professor Stuart Logan, Editor of Child: Care, Health and Development, which will publish the conference abstracts early next year. "The scientific committee, drawn from the editors of Wiley-Blackwell's paediatric journals and books, is delighted by the quality and breadth of speakers it has managed to attract."

The four-day event, at the Firenze Fiera conference centre in Florence, is aimed at general and specialist paediatricians, general practitioners and family doctors and allied health professionals.

Researchers from the field of paediatrics have until 9 October to submit abstracts, with the best 12 receiving the Excellence in Paediatrics Award, which will entitle them to present their paper in three special sessions and attend the 2010 conference in London free of charge.

Preferential delegate rates are also being offered for early booking, with discounts for those who register before 5 October.

Highlights of the event include:

·    A round table flu pandemic event held during the opening ceremony, with speakers including Dr Charles Penn from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Influenza Programme and Dr Edwin Trevathan from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in America.

·    A one-day session on Evidence-Based Medicine and Child Nutrition co-hosted by the Cochrane Child Health Field and the European Paediatric Association (EPA/ UNEPSA).

·    The latest updates on paediatric liver disease, explored during a special session hosted by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).

·    Special sessions hosted by Harvard Medical School, the Children's Hospital Boston and the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID).

"The conference will provide an exciting mix of lectures, round table discussions, debates, interactive events and meet-the-expert sessions" says Christina Lassos, Managing Director of conference organisers C&C London.

"We are delighted to be working with Wiley-Blackwell's top paediatric titles to offer such an exciting, cutting-edge programme that no child health professional can afford to miss."

The thematic streams covered by the conference include: infectious diseases; allergy, immunology, pulmonology; neurology - social and environmental paediatrics; endocrinology and growth; gastroenterology; nephrology and urology; dermatology; adolescence medicine; surgery and transplantation; haematology and oncology; rheumatology; genetics; neonatology and nutrition.