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Children's National to Host Symposium on Medical Device Development

Washington, DC— Medical device development is the focus of an up-coming symposium hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children’s National Medical Center.

The First Annual Pediatric Surgical Innovation Symposium will be held June 13, 2013, at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC.  It will address critical issues in pediatric surgical innovation and medical device development. Registration and other information are available on the Sheikh Zayed Institute website.

United States Representative Bill Cassidy, (R-Louisiana), a physician and Associate Professor of Medicine at Louisiana State University, will be the keynote speaker, providing a perspective on how the legislative/regulatory arena impacts medical device development.

“Around the world, we see a critical unmet need for development of pediatric medical devices,” said Peter Kim, MD, CM, PhD,  Institute Vice President. “The unique challenges in testing and marketing new devices for children, the limited sources of funding support, and the current regulatory process all contribute to this need.

Additional symposium speakers include Constantine Stratakis, MD, D(Med)Sci, Scientific Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Murray Sheldon, MD, Associate Director of Technology and Innovation for the Food and Drug Administration; Elazer Edelman, MD, PhD, Director of MIT-Harvard Biomedical Engineering Center; Ralf Herold, MD, Senior Scientific Administrator of the European Medicines Agency; Eric Silfen, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Philips Healthcare; Rita Barksdale, MBA General Manager, Maternal Infant Care at GE Healthcare; as well as policymakers, clinicians, legal experts, scientists, and bioethicists from around the world.

Plenary sessions will address device development, regulation and innovation, with breakout sessions devoted to bioethics, research, policy and legal matters, clinical issues, and the interests of professional societies and industry.

“To improve the health of children worldwide, manufacturers, innovators, and regulatory bodies must work together to find a balance between encouraging medical advances and ensuring that children receive treatment that is as safe and effective as possible,” said Mark Batshaw, MD, Physician-in-Chief, Executive Vice President, and Chief Academic Officer, Children’s National.

The symposium is sponsored by The Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation in collaboration with the World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons.

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