Christopher Reeve Among Speakers at BIO 2000
Reeve, whose acting credits include the starring role in the 1978 Superman film and its sequels, will be the featured speaker Monday, March 27, at the opening plenary session for the BIO 2000 International Meeting & Exhibition. The session begins at 4:45 p.m. in the Hynes Convention Center.
Since his injury, Reeve has been an outspoken supporter formedical research and the disabled. He is chairman of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and is vice chairman of the National Organization on Disability.
BIO 2000 will be held March 26-30, Sunday through Thursday, inBoston's Hynes Convention Center. More than 7,000 company executives, scientists, investment experts and government officials from 40 nations are expected to attend. More than 600 speakers will participate in 200 symposia and sessions on the latest developments in science, business and public policy.
In addition to Reeve, featured speakers include U.S. Sen. EdwardKennedy (D-Mass. Peter Lynch, vice chairman of Fidelity Management and Research Co.; Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; U.S. Commerce Department Undersecretary Dr. Cheryl Shavers; and David Lander, a multiple sclerosis patient who played Squiggy on the Laverne and Shirley television sitcom.
Lynch is the lunch speaker Monday, March 27, and Lander will speak at the conference's closing lunch, Thursday, March 30.
Gov. Vilsack will participate in a discussion on the consumer market for biotech foods Tuesday, March 28, and Sen. Kennedy will join a panel of other health-care experts in exploring the economics of the biopharmaceutical industry Monday, March 27. Shavers will participate in a presentation Monday on economic development initiatives for biotech industry growth.
Other featured speakers include Herbert Boyer, co-founder of Genentech; BIO Chairman Mark Skaletsky, who is chairman and president of GelTex Pharmaceuticals; and BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum.
BIO 2000 symposia and presentations will discuss genomics, genetherapy, bioethics, patient advocacy, government regulation, business development, investment trends and visions of the future.
This year's conference will feature the largest internationalcontingent. Biotech company executives, scientists and government officials from North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia are expected to attend.
A conference program is available on BIO's website (www.bio.org). Registration for credentialed press is complimentary. Freelancers must provide the name of the publication and editor employing them to cover the conference. Pre-registration via BIO's website ends Feb. 25. Onsite registration begins March 25 at the Hynes Convention Center.
For more information on the conference contact Dan Eramian, Charles Craig or Tiesha Higgins at BIO (202-962-9200).