October Conference to Spur Bioscience Innovation

(NIST: Gaithersburg, Maryland) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) will cosponsor an international conference on “Accelerating Innovation in 21st Century Biosciences: Identifying the Measurement Standards and Technological Challenges,” Oct. 19–22, at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The conference goal is to identify and prioritize measurement, standards, and technology needs that are currently creating barriers to innovation—and impeding full realization of the societal and economic benefits of new discoveries in the biosciences. The conference will focus on:

• Agriculture—increasing yield, quality, and safety in the world’s food supply
• Energy—obtaining sustainable energy from biological sources
• Environment—understanding our planet through linking molecules to ecosystems
• Manufacturing—obtaining higher quality products through better bioprocess measurements
• Medicine—improving health through measurement of complex biological signatures

The conference is designed to yield a detailed road map list of measurement, standards, and technology needs that will inform and guide researchers at NIST, as well as others in the measurement and standards communities worldwide. It will open with a session in which policy makers and National Metrology Institute directors from around the globe will discuss priority setting and budgeting for bioscience measurement and standards activities in their respective regions and countries. This will be followed by a series of plenary lectures from bioscience leaders discussing future trends and measurement, standards, and technology needs. Among those scheduled to speak at the conference are: John Marburger, director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy; Lee Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology; Anna Palmisano, associate director of biological and environmental research of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy; Stephen Weisberg, executive director of Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Authority; James Thomas, vice president of process and analytical sciences at Amgen Corp.; and Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak, authors of Tomorrow's Table (Oxford University Press, 2008). For more information and to register online, go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/techbeat/tb2008_0806.htm#umbi

About The Author