There is enormous excitement and expectation surrounding the multidisciplinary field of nanomedicine – the science and technology of diagnosing, treating and preventing disease using nanotechnology. Nanomedicine is already influencing the pharmaceutical industry, especially in the design, formulation and delivery of therapeutics. Current and future products range from nanoparticulate therapeutics that precision-target certain cancers to nanosensors that are capable of navigating through the body for early disease detection. These approaches have the ability to reduce the risk of toxicity for the patient, thereby improving efficacy and patient compliance. The American Society for Nanomedicine (ASNM) is holding its second annual conference on October 14-16, 2010 in the Washington, D.C. area, where some of the biggest stakeholders in this emerging technology operate and practice.
Reflecting this effort is a conference program designed for physicians, scientists, policy-makers, engineers, lawyers and educators from government, academia and industry. Last year's inaugural conference drew over 200 attendees from more than 25 countries. The conference venue is again the Bolger Center in Potomac, Maryland, USA (http://www.dolce-bolger-center-hotel.com/).
This year, ASNM has worked closely with the HIV/AIDS Research Program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the result of which is a dovetailed conference with a special focus on exploring the use of nanotechnology to address HIV/AIDS-specific research questions and clinical applications. The first half of the conference will focus on this joint effort, while the second half will focus primarily on capturing the recent novel developments in the field of nanomedicine; critical issues such as ethics, safety and toxicity, patent law, intellectual property and commercialization will be addressed throughout. The multidisciplinary nature of the conference affords a unique opportunity to catalyze interactions among investigators, who will share strategies and methods to address their respective challenges. Poster sessions, Young Investigator Awards, a reception and numerous networking opportunities will all be devoted to fostering these relationships between researchers from both fields. The ultimate goal of these new directions and platforms is to translate knowledge into practical, sustainable applications that will improve health care.
The conference will feature more than fifty world-renowned speakers, who are among the top researchers and leaders in their fields. In the past year, there have been many exciting developments and new insights into the study and application of both HIV/AIDS research and nanomedicine. ASNM would like to invite all researchers interested in exploring these dynamic disciplines to join this conference, with the ultimate goal of enabling practical solutions and new directions to help address the many challenges in each field.
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