NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins named as the keynote speaker at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2020 Meeting

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) is pleased to announce Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, as the keynote speaker at the PAS 2020 Meeting, taking place April 29 through May 6 in Philadelphia.

Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist who is well known for his discoveries of disease genes and for leading the international Human Genome Project. Additionally, Dr. Collins served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1993 to 2008.

Former President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Collins as the 16th director of NIH and he was sworn in on August 17, 2009. In June 2017, President Donald Trump announced his selection of Dr. Collins to continue to serve as the NIH director.

Prior to joining the NIH, Dr. Collins was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Michigan. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007 and received the National Medal of Science in 2009.

"We are honored to have Dr. Collins as our keynote speaker at the PAS 2020 Meeting in Philadelphia," said Patrick D. Brophy, MD, MHCDS, PAS Program Chair. "His incredible work and leadership have helped change the course of healthcare and pediatrics."

The PAS Meeting is the leading event for academic pediatrics and child health research. The event will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia (1101 Arch St) and includes more than 4,000 scientific presentations.

Each year, the meeting introduces new PAS Lab pilots. This year's PAS Meeting will include a Trainee Zone, a trainee and career development day with expanded programming, and a Sunday morning Table Topics networking event held in conjunction with the Meet the Professor breakfast sessions.

Calls for Scholarly Sessions, Ancillary Events, Workshops, Clubs and Meet the Professor sessions will open August 6 and close October 2. Call for Original Science Abstracts opens October 30 and closes January 6. Registration and housing open November 5.

Attendees can track sessions, speakers, abstracts, topic areas and more through the online program guide available in late August. For more information about the PAS 2020 Meeting, please visit www.pas-meeting.org.

About the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting
The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting is the premier North American scholarly child health meeting. The meeting brings together thousands of pediatricians and other health care providers united by a common mission: to improve the health and well-being of children worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in pediatric academics, clinical care providers and community practitioners. Presentations cover issues of interest to generalists as well as topics critical to a wide array of specialty and subspecialty areas. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four pediatric organizations that are leaders in the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: American Pediatric Society, Society for Pediatric Research, Academic Pediatric Association and American Academy of Pediatrics. For more information, please visit www.pas-meeting.org. Follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting, Instagram PASMeeting and #PAS2020, and like us on Facebook PASMeeting.

SOURCE Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting

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