(05/02/07)

Metro Toronto Convention Centre to Host World’s Leaders in Pediatrics at Largest International Meeting Focused on Research in Child Health

TORONTO, ONTARIO, May 2, 2007 – The world’s leaders in pediatrics will come together in Toronto this month when the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting and Exposition is held May 5-8, 2007 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC).

Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting is the world’s largest meeting to focus on current and future research in child health, while also providing a unique venue for interdisciplinary scientific interactions.

The PAS Annual Meeting is designed to support the goals and objectives of each of the individual sponsoring societies -- to promote research and academics, professional education in basic and clinical sciences, and to provide a forum for networking opportunities for our members as well as for the broader pediatric community. The meeting also supports the development and recognition of future pediatric academicians, as well as continuing education for current practitioners.

Featuring over 2,000 individual presentations of original, state-of-the-art science, the meeting is expected to attract 7,000 attendees, including global experts, senior researchers and promising young scientists. The MTCC anticipates this major convention will produce significant revenue for Toronto’s hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues, with an overall economic impact of approximately $11.2 million in direct spending.

The program will address all aspects of academic pediatrics and will include a range of cutting-edge science, including basic to translational (pre-clinical), clinical and health services research that reflects a diverse range of pediatric academic disciplines. Featured topics and themes include:

the causes and outcomes of the obesity epidemic in children and youth
the potential links between pesticides and learning disabilities
whether honey works better than medication in calming night time coughs in children with upper respiratory diseases
why tanning is a growing teenage fad and how to protect against potential skin cancer
how much school recess children actually get

A full list of the topics and presentations in the meeting program is available at www.aps-spr.org.

“This meeting is an important venue that brings great minds together to share their experiences and thoughts at ensuring the health of children world wide,” said Dr. Sherin Devaskar, PAS Program Committee Chair. “Globally children face diseases ranging from malnutrition to obesity. There is an urgent need, for example, to improve immunizations targeted at preventing infections that are sensitive and resistant to present treatments, to enhance the impact of maternal health on the future of unborn children, and many other issues affecting children. What is unique about this meeting is that while addressing concerns that affect children’s health today, a major focus is on the future: research that targets future prevention and therapeutic strategies towards improving the health of children everywhere,” she added.

“We are honoured to be hosting the international leaders in pediatric medicine and science to Toronto and to the MTCC,” added Barry Smith, the Centre’s CEO. “Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that takes care of our world’s most precious resource, our children. They represent our future, and nothing is more important than the health of our children. There are many urgent issues affecting the well-being of children and youth in our world today. By bringing together the largest group of international experts in Toronto next week, we can expect medical science to make great progress,” he added.

About the PAS

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) consists of four individual pediatric organizations that annually co-sponsor a joint meeting: The American Pediatric Society, The Society for Pediatric Research, The Ambulatory Pediatric Association and The American Academy of Pediatrics. Members of these organizations are pediatricians and other health care providers who teach, execute research and see patients, generally in the academic arena.

The combined membership of over 9,000 individual members represents all interests in pediatrics including specialists, generalists and private practitioners. These four sponsoring organizations are leaders in the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy within the pediatric academic community and are all dedicated to fostering the current and future health and well being of all children worldwide. The four organizations have met together for over 25 years. More detailed information about PAS is available at the PAS website, located at: www.aps.org.

About the MTCC

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada’s #1 convention and trade show facility and one of the finest in North America. With more than 2 million square feet of state-of-the-art space, it is considered a world-class, tier-one facility. Since its opening in 1984, the MTCC has hosted approximately 12,000 events, entertained nearly 40 million guests and has had a multi-billion dollar direct and indirect economic impact on the City and Province.

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