The Center for Science in the Public Interest is holding its fourth national Integrity in Science Conference from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan International Center in Washington, DC.
The conference will focus on creating a way to foster public sector science and eliminate the influence of politics and corporations on that science. The all-day conference includes sessions on limiting conflicts of interest on federal advisory committees, with a special emphasis on the FDA; and disclosing conflicts of interest in the medical literature. CSPI will be unveil a model conflict of interest policy signed by several leading bioethicists and journal editors, which will be released to reporters a few days before the conference embargoed for that day.
Session of special interest
Merrill Goozner, AHCJ member and director of the Integrity in Science project for the Center for Science in the Public Interest suggests a session of particular interest for health care reporters who plan to cover the reform debates this fall and in the new year, since both major candidates have included comparative effectiveness research as part of their health care reform platforms.
"Setting the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Agenda: What Role for Industry?" will include Project Hope's Gail Wilensky, the former head of what is now the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Ezekiel J. Emanuel of the the NIH Department of Bioethics; Oregon Health Sciences University's Mark Gibson, executive director of its Center for Evidence-Based Policy; M. Gregg Bloche, professor of law at Georgetown University Law School; and Alan Goldhammer, vice president for regulatory affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association. The session will be moderated by the New America Foundation senior fellow Shannon Brownlee, author of the new book "Overtreated."
See the conference's schedule for additional information. The conference includes a sit-down lunch where the featured speaker will be NASA scientist James Hansen, giving his latest take on global warming.
Registration
The conference is free for journalists. Otherwise registration is $250. The fee is reduced to $109 for nonprofit agencies, educational institutions and government agencies. Students pay $30.
The Reagan International Center is at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.