Cure® to Host Science Summit of 78th United Nations General Assembly

How global science collaborations address U.N. Sustainable Development Goals explored in 300+ sessions Sept. 12 to 29, 2023

Seema Kumar, Cure CEO, opens U.S. Science Summit with plenary on digital science, as special sessions address pandemic preparedness, genomics and more

NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cure®, a healthcare innovation campus in New York City, will open and host key events of the Science Summit at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) taking place September 12 to 29, 2023. The Summit, with speakers from 116 countries, will focus on developing and launching new science collaborations to help attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"Cure's partnership enhances our focus on how collaborations across continents, nations and themes can strengthen and sustain the role of science in achieving the U.N. SDGs," said Declan Kirrane, chairman of the Summit and managing director of the event's organizer ISC Intelligence in Science. "Cure's forward-thinking role in advancing science and technology is helping realize solutions with global potential, which will enhance our Summit discussions."

The event's more than 300 sessions examine how policy, regulatory and financial sectors can increase health science and citizen collaborations across such themes as information and communication technology, nutrition, agriculture and the environment. The Summit's sessions will be in person and the majority will be live-streamed , reaching an anticipated attendance of more than 100,000 globally. Attendees include thought leaders, scientists, technologists, innovators, policymakers, decision-makers, regulators, financiers, philanthropists, journalists, and community leaders.

"At Cure, our mission is to advance healthcare across the ecosystem to accelerate cures, and this mission is squarely aligned with the U.N. SDG goals to improve the health and well-being for people globally. Achieving this goal will require global collaboration in science, technology, and innovation at the intersection of disciplines, sectors and geographies. We are thrilled to be hosting the U.N. Science Summit and look forward to productive discussions and action plans focused on meaningful outcomes," said Seema Kumar, CEO of Cure.

Kumar will open the Summit with a Digital Science Plenary on Sept. 12. The session's speakers will explore the current and future state of how data-enabled analyses fuel scientific research and development necessary to achieve the UN SDGs. As part of the Plenary, Kumar will moderate a discussion with Alejandro Adem, Ph.D., President of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Bernardo Mariano Junior, Chief Information Technology Officer of the United Nations, and Magdalena Skipper, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Nature and Chief Editorial Advisor for the Nature portfolio, published by Springer Nature.

A special session on Sept. 14 will address how the global lessons of COVID-19 are helping to collaboratively build pandemic preparedness, so that vaccines, tests and treatments can be made available within the first 100 days of an identified threat. The session will feature Victor J. Dzau, M.D., President of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Vice Chair of the U.S. National Research Council; and Co-Chair of the 100 Days Mission Science and Technology Expert Group. The panel also includes Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., U.S. Director, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Initiatives (CEPI); Shingai Machingaidze, M.D., Ph.D., Ag. Chief Science Officer, Africa CDC; Rick A. Bright, Ph.D., Former Director of BARDA, Strategic Advisor to Cure and Board Member of FIND; Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health R&D; and Mariângela Simão, M.D., M.Sc., Director, All for Health Institute and former WHO Assistant Director-General for Drug Access, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals. 

A plenary on Sept.15 will focus on the Genomics Centres of Excellence in Africa including collaborative research programs and capacity building. The session will feature Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Former Senior Advisor to the U.S. President Joseph Biden and former Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH); Agnes Binagwaho, M.D., Ph.D., former Vice Chancellor of The University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda; Yenew Kebede, M.D., M.P.H., Head of the Division of Laboratory Systems & Networks, Africa CDC; Harold Varmus, M.D., Chair of World Health Organization Science Council and former Director of NIH, and Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., Executive Director of Preparedness and Response, CEPI, among others.

The complete Summit program and general and press registration can be found on the event website. Space is limited, but most sessions will be available virtually. Sessions held at the Cure campus include: 

Tuesday, Sept. 12

• Opening Plenary: Digital Science for the SDGs and the UN Summit of the Future (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT)
  • Special Session: Alejandro Adem, Ph.D., President of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Bernardo Mariano, Junior U.N. Chief Information Technology Officer; and Magdalena Skipper, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of Nature and Chief Editorial Advisor for the Nature portfolio, published by Springer Nature, in conversation with Cure CEO Seema Kumar live-streamed as Cure's Sept. 12 Tuesday Talk at 11 a.m. EDT.

Wednesday, Sept. 13

• One Health Research: addressing the complex health facing our society, such as ecosystem degradation, food system failures, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (8:45 a.m.-3:00 p.m. EDT)
• Science storytelling for the SDGs with Springer Nature and the UN Sustainable Developments Solutions Networks (5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT)

Thursday, Sept. 14

• Pandemic Preparedness: defining the UN-level strategy for the Summit of the Future 2024 with the National Research Foundation, South Africa (8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EDT)
  • Special Session: 100 Days Mission: The Science of Access to Medical Countermeasures for Pandemic Preparedness (11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT)

Friday, Sept. 15

• Plenary: Agenda setting for the Genomics Centres of Excellence in Africa including Research Cooperation and Capacity Building (8:45 a.m.to 4 :00 p.m. EDT)

Friday, Sept. 22

• Supporting Bioeconomies of a Healthy Standing Forest and Flowing Rivers in the Amazon (3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT)

Tuesday, Sept. 26

• The ECHAlliance Global Health Connector Event – Data & Digital (9:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. EDT)
• The ECHAlliance Global Health Connector Event – Healthy Ageing (1:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT)
• The ECHAlliance Global Health Connector Event – Green Health (4:00 p.m. EDT to 6:00 p.m. EDT)

Wednesday, Sept. 27

• The ECHAlliance Global Health Connector Event – Health Ageing II (9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT)
• The ECHAlliance Global Health Connector Event – Women's Health (1:30 p.m. EDT to 4:30 p.m. EDT)

ABOUT CURE®
An affiliate of Deerfield Management located at 345 Park Avenue South in New York City, Cure is a 12-story innovation campus in the heart of New York City that features cutting-edge wet labs, premium event venues, and office space—plus tools, mentoring, and other assistance to physician-scientists, entrepreneurs, academics, and nonprofits working across the spectrum of healthcare and biomedicine. Cure's mission is to foster and accelerate the development of therapies and cures and to facilitate critical conversations about the future of healthcare and medicine. For more information, please visit http://wewillcure.com/.

About the UN SDGS
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. Learn more at https://sdgs.un.org/goals.

Media contact: Caroline Drucker, [email protected]

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