IEEE Brings International Thought Leaders Together for IEEE Life Sciences “Grand Challenges” Conference in Washington, DC, 4 – 5 October

National Academy of Sciences plays host to celebrated innovators and experts who will address grand challenges in engineering and life sciences

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IEEE, the world's largest professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, today announced details of its upcoming “IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference”. Sponsored and organized by the IEEE Life Sciences Initiative, the two-day event brings together leading global innovators and thought leaders to identify and explore grand challenges in engineering life sciences and healthcare. Designed to be a public forum for the open exchange of ideas, discussion, and debate, the IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference will be held 4 – 5 October, 2012, at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Auditorium in Washington, DC.

“By providing an unbiased, public-facing forum where such issues can be freely deliberated, IEEE is helping to ensure that quest for scientific excellence and advancement continues unimpeded.”

"The intersection of engineering, computing and the life sciences is increasingly recognized as the new exciting frontier for great strides in Science," said Moshe Kam, 2011 IEEE President, and IEEE Fellow. "We expect that the burgeoning activity in this area would lead to new discoveries and methods that would have profound effect on the way we live, on diagnostics and clinical medicine, and on the methodology and philosophy of healthcare. The IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference is an ideal platform for deepening the dialog on these transformative technologies and setting the stage for the next leap forward in pertinent theoretical and applied research."

“As the pace of R&D continues to accelerate, how to address the most significant challenges facing the scientific community and how to best invest public resources to achieve big societal impacts, are of ultimate importance. Public discussions and debates become essential in identifying and resolving those challenges that could become roadblocks to progress and innovation,” said Bin He, IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges conference chair, IEEE Life Sciences chair, and IEEE Fellow, who is also Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Medtronic-Bakken Chair, and director of Institute for Engineering in Medicine at the University of Minnesota. “By providing an unbiased, public-facing forum where such issues can be freely deliberated, IEEE is helping to ensure that quest for scientific excellence and advancement continues unimpeded.”

The IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference offers a rich program consisting of keynote and plenary talks, as well as panel and group discussions. Speakers and panelists will cover an array of topic areas and disciplines including brain disorders and nervous systems; heart disorders and cardiovascular systems; and engineering challenges when fighting cancer. The event features a diverse lineup of experts gathered from around the world, such as Nobel Laureate and National Medal of Science recipient, Phillip A. Sharp, institute professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Charles M. Vest, a National Medal of Technology Laureate, president of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and president emeritus, MIT; and Roderic Pettigrew, director of National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health (NIH). The full conference program is available online at http://bit.ly/IEEEGrandChallengesProgram.

Advance registration for the IEEE Life Sciences Grand Challenges Conference closes 14 September, 2012. Complete program and registration information is available online at http://lifesciences.ieee.org/lsgcc2012.

The IEEE Life Sciences Initiative is designed to help coordinate the vast number of life science activities taking place across IEEE. It also aims to establish the organization’s role as a life sciences leader, and engage more thoroughly with the life sciences community. Resources developed as part of this initiative include the IEEE Life Sciences Portal, a premier online knowledge, collaboration, and cross-disciplinary solutions hub, and the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter, a monthly digest of life sciences news, analysis, and expert commentary.

To register for a complimentary newsletter subscription, please visit http://lifesciences.ieee.org/publications/newsletter. For more information about IEEE Life Sciences standards, publications, and conferences, please visit http://lifesciences.ieee.org. IEEE Life Sciences can also be found on twitter at @IEEELifeScience.

About IEEE

IEEE, a large, global technical professional organization is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org.