The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) will hold a commemorative scientific symposium on technological innovation in medicine celebrating the first five years of the Institute on Friday, June 1, 2007. The symposium, entitled “Changing the World’s Healthcare through Biomedical Technologies,” will take place from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm in the Lister Hill Center Auditorium on the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.

The symposium will feature many distinguished speakers. The 1964 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Charles H. Townes, Ph.D., will share his unique “Reflections on the Discovery of the LASER.” Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pioneer, Waldo S. Hinshaw, Ph.D., a colleague of the late 2003 Nobel Laureate and MRI co-developer Paul Lauterbur, will provide a Commemorative Lecture entitled “Reflections on the Development of MRI.” At a dinner reception the evening before the symposium, sponsored by the Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research (CIBR), the Academy of Radiology Research (ARR), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., will provide the opening address. The keynote speaker at that event will be former Apollo astronaut and former U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt, who was the last man to walk on the moon. In addition, the first NIBIB Landmark Achievement Award will be made to Nobel Laureate Paul C. Lauterbur, Ph.D. Due to his recent unexpected death, his wife M. Joan Dawson, Ph.D., will accept the award in his honor.

Others slated to speak at the symposium include Harvey Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., President of the Institute of Medicine; The Honorable Shirley A. Jackson, Ph.D., President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Anthony Atala, M.D., Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University; Ralph Weissleder, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Molecular Imaging Research, Harvard University; Dennis Spencer, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University, and a member of the first team to receive an NIBIB grant; and Elias Zerhouni, M.D., NIH Director.

“The symposium celebrates our five years of remarkable accomplishments in leading technology development and innovation to address the challenges facing health care in the 21st Century,” says NIBIB Director Roderic I. Pettigrew, M.D., Ph.D.

The NIBIB was established on December 29, 2000, to lead the development and accelerate the application of biomedical technologies, and received its first appropriation in April 2002. The establishment of NIBIB was based on remarkable advances in biomedical imaging and bioengineering and the potential for these advances to dramatically alter health care delivery.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Because parking is limited, attendees are encouraged to use Metro. The Medical Center Metro is within walking distance to the Lister Hill Center. To view the full agenda, obtain more information on how to register, or to request sign language interpreters or other reasonable accommodation, please visit the symposium website at www.NIBIBmeetings.org/Symposium or call Michelle Murray at 301-986-1891.

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is dedicated to improving human health through the integration of the physical and biological sciences. The research agenda of the NIBIB seeks to dramatically advance the Nation’s health by improving the detection, management, understanding, and ultimately, the prevention of disease. Additional information and publications are available at www.nibib.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.