Pharmaceutical experts set sights on moving targets
On Aug. 24, the USC student chapter of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) will hold the 11th annual Moving Targets Symposium, which invites students, faculty and interested scientists to participate in a daylong discussion about a prominent health care topic with nationally recognized experts.
Top scientists in the field from around the world will be on hand to discuss the theme of “Metabolic Syndrome: Past, Present and Future.” Metabolic syndrome is believed to affect nearly a quarter of the world’s adult population.
“Moving Targets 2012 brings in authorities from the fields of Type 2 diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis to discuss these major health care issues that are hot-button topics in the press,” said Harsh Sancheti MS ’10, a graduate student who chairs the AAPS-USC student chapter at the USC School of Pharmacy. “We hope to educate the audience about recent therapeutic progress and also update the students about major concepts concerning metabolic syndrome. Overall, we hope to provide a congenial scientific platform for analysis and discussion while sparking ideas on future directions.”
The student-run event, to be held at the Radisson Hotel across from USC’s University Park Campus, will include a series of lectures from experts followed by a poster competition and reception.
“The Moving Targets poster session is a multidisciplinary competition aimed at promoting stimulating discussions,” said Suhaas Aluri, AAPS-USC co-chair. “The event is open to all registrants if they choose to participate. Poster topics can be from varied fields and need not be relevant to the theme of the conference.”
Students who participate in the poster will compete to win prizes. This year’s top poster will earn $1,000. The second-place winner will take home $750 and the third place receives $500.
The seminar will give students a chance to hear from some of the best-known experts in the field, as well as to network with them during lunch and over the course of the event.
Scheduled to present the keynote lecture is Thomas Buchanan, chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Buchanan is also associate dean for clinical research at the Keck School and the principal investigator on the $56.8 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the USC-based Los Angeles Basin Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Others lecturers include Prediman Shah, director of the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Robert Hegele, director of the Blackburn Cardiovascular Genetics Lab; and Murielle Veniant-Ellison, scientific executive director at Amgen Inc.
“Moving Targets provides students with a unique opportunity to meet and share ideas with leading scientists,” said School of Pharmacy Dean R. Pete Vanderveen. “Our school is committed to these kinds of learning exchanges, and we’re proud to host Moving Targets for the 11th year.”
The event is free and open to everyone. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, visit http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?584706
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