'Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation' Brings Senator Arlen Specter, U.S....

'Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation' Brings Senator Arlen Specter,
U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo, and Innovation Leaders Together in Washington,
D.C., This Week

Council for American Medical Innovation and The Aspen Institute Host Forum
Focusing On 'Achieving Recovery Through Discovery'

WASHINGTON, June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

WHAT: United States leadership in medical innovation is at risk.
A recent study found that the U.S. currently ranks sixth
among 40 countries and regions in innovation and
competitiveness, and it placed last in terms of progress
made over the last decade. The Best & Brightest Forum on
Medical Innovation: Achieving Recovery through Discovery is
bringing together leading policymakers, academic scholars,
researchers, patient advocates, biotechnology industry
representatives and other stakeholders for in-depth
discussions on topics including: Why medical innovation is
a key to economic recovery; why new policies are needed to
stimulate medical innovation and cure cancer and other
life-threatening diseases; and why advocating for U.S.
leadership in medical innovation in today's political
landscape is so important.

WHO: Moderated by:
------------
-- Paul Begala, CNN political contributor, and research
professor at Georgetown University's Public Policy
Institute
-- Michelle McMurry, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Health,
Biomedical Science, and Society Policy Program and the
Aspen Health Forum at the Aspen Institute

Featuring:
---------
-- The Honorable Arlen Specter, United States Senator
-- The Honorable Anna Eshoo, United States Representative
-- Richard A. Gephardt, Former House Majority Leader and
President of the Council for American Medical Innovation
-- Billy Tauzin, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
-- Mary Woolley, President, Research!America
-- Alicia Loffler, Ph.D., Director and Clinical Professor of
Biotechnology, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern
University
-- Brett P. Giroir, M.D., Vice Chancellor of Research, The
Texas A&M University System
-- Rita Colwell, Ph.D., Former Director of the National Science
Foundation, Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc.,
Distinguished University Professor at the University of
Maryland at College Park and Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health

*Richard A. Gephardt and other panelists will be available
for media interviews between 9:00am and 9:30am. Please
contact Laura Lowery, 206-799-5604 to secure an interview.

WHERE: Newseum, Knight Conference Center, 7(th) Floor (Enter at
the 6(th) Street Exit), 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.,
Washington, D.C., 20001

WHEN: Friday, June 12, 2009
9:30 am - 1 pm
RSVP www.regonline.com/bestandbrightestDC

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090325/DC89081LOGO )

About the Council for American Medical Innovation
The United States faces serious challenges to maintaining its leadership
position in innovation. The Council for American Medical Innovation is
bringing together leaders in research, medicine, public health, academia,
education, labor, and business, who are working in partnership toward a
national policy agenda aimed at preserving U.S. leadership in medical
innovation. American medical innovators create millions of high-paying jobs,
and their discoveries are integral in the fight to cure cancer and other
illnesses. The Council for American Medical Innovation views leadership in
medical innovation as a key part of America's economic recovery, future
prosperity and health.

For more information on the Council for American Medical Innovation, visit
www.americanmedicalinnovation.org.

SOURCE Council for American Medical Innovation

Laura Lowery, APCO Worldwide, +1-206-799-5604, llowery@apcoworldwide.com, for
Council for American Medical Innovation