Events

Briefing: “Recession and Recovery: How are Americans Affected?”

Time: July 12, 2010 from 12pm to 1:30pm
Location: Room B-340 Rayburn House Office Building
City/Town: Washington DC
Event Type: briefing
Organized By: RSVP to Juliane Baron at [email protected]

Slides Available here.

The Population Association of America Invites you to a Brown-Bag Briefing: “Recession and Recovery: How are Americans Affected?” A weak economy touches almost every American family. While headlines suggest the country is recovering slowly from the most recent economic crisis, it is important to understand the short and long-term consequences of economic recessions. On Monday, July 12, the Population Association of America is sponsoring a panel of distinguished researchers who will present findings, demonstrating how economic downturns affect the most vulnerable U.S. populations: children, young adults, and older Americans. The Population Association of America (www.popassoc.org) is sponsoring this event. The cosponsoring organizations are: Association of Population Centers, Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics, Consortium of Social Science Associations, Friends of the National Institute on Aging, Friends of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Population Reference Bureau, Population Resource Center, and Society for Research in Child Development. For more information, or to RSVP, please contact Juliane Baron at [email protected].

Population Reference Bureau and Hopkins Population Center, “Annual Symposium on Policy and Health”

Time: June 23, 2010 from 1pm to 3pm
Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St, NW, Washington, DC (Murrow, White, and Lisagor Rooms)
Street: 529 14th St, NW
City/Town: Washington DC
Website or Map: http://www.prb.org
Event Type: symposium
Organized By: RSVP: Dottie Ferrell [email protected]

POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU AND HOPKINS POPULATION CENTER ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON POLICY AND HEALTH

“Family Care for an Aging Population: Demographic Contexts and Policy Challenges”

When: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 • 1 p.m. Lunch • 1:30 – 3 p.m. Symposium

Where: National Press Club, 529 14th St, NW, Washington, DC (Murrow, White, and Lisagor Rooms)

RSVP: Dottie Ferrell, [email protected]

Andrew Cherlin, Benjamin H. Griswold III Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, and Director, Hopkins Population Center, Johns Hopkins University

Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts

Madonna Harrington Meyer, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Professor of Sociology, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

John Haaga, Deputy Director, Division of Behavioral and Social Research, National Institute on Aging

Presented in collaboration with the Hopkins Center for Population Aging and Health and with the Center for Aging and Policy Studies at Syracuse University

Autoimmune Diseases Summit

WEBCAST ARCHIVE AVAILABLE HERE.

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES SUMMIT: THE GLOBAL STATE OF AUTOIMMUNITY TODAY
Time: March 3, 2010 all day
Location: The Liaison Hotel
Street: 415 New Jersey Avenue, NW
City/Town: Washington D.C.
Website or Map: http://www.aarda.org
Phone: 586-776-3900
Event Type: conference
Organized By: American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA)/ National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups (NCAPG)

Mar. 3, 8:30 a.m., The Liason Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue NW

The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) in collaboration with the National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups (NCAPG) are hosting a national summit meeting on autoimmune diseases titled “Autoimmune Diseases Summit: The Global State of Autoimmunity Today.” The summit will include panel discussions on public policy, media, epidemiology and research surrounding the escalating problem of autoimmune diseases which affect some 50 million Americans today.

Participants:

Melissa Joan Hart (keynote speaker), actress; Donna Jackson Nakazawa (moderator), author of The Autoimmune Epidemic; Glinda Cooper, PhD, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); M. Eric Gershwin, MD, Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of California at Davis; Christine Parks, Research Fellow, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS); Frederick W. Miller, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator, Environmental Autoimmunity Group, NIEHS; Stanley M. Finger, PhD, Chairman of the Board, AARDA; Virginia T. Ladd, President and Executive Director, AARDA; Phyllis E. Greenberger, MSW, Society for Women’s Health Research; Betty Diamond, MD, Center Head, Department of Autoimmune Diseases, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, AARDA; Michael Amos, PhD, National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST); Rita Baron-Faust (moderator), MPH, CHES, author of The Autoimmune Connection; Margery Rosen, freelance writer; Peggy Peck, Vice President and Executive Editor, MedPage Today; Becca McDevitt, WJLA-TV, Washington, DC; Noel R. Rose, MD, PhD, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Chairman Emeritus of the Scientific Advisory Board, AARDA; Dr Robert Carter (moderator), Deputy Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skins Diseases (NIAMS); Daniel Rotrosen, MD, Director, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases(NIAID); Dr. David Norris, Chair of the Department of Dermatology, University of Colorado Medical Center; Anthony Hayward, Division Director, National Center for Research Resources, NCRR; Katherine Morland Hammit, MA, Vice President of Research, Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation; Cartier Esham, PhD, Director, Emerging Companies Health and Regulatory Affairs, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

Note: Register online. Summit Program FREE; additional $25 fee for luncheon and reception attendance.

Contact: Kristian Hurley at 586-776-3900 [email protected]

For further information: http://www.aarda.org

Expert Discussion on the Effect of the Economic Downturn on American Families

Time: February 5, 2010 from 12pm to 1:30pm
Location: TBA
Event Type: expert, discussion
Organized By: Lisa Rosenberg at [email protected]

**DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE BRIEFING IS CANCELLED.

___________________________________________
You are invited to an Expert Discussion on the Effect of the Economic Downturn on American Families
February 5, 2010, 12:00-1:30
The current economic downturn has touched almost every American family. High unemployment, depleted college savings accounts and decimated retirement plans are just a few of the problems that have left a large proportion of our population in a precarious financial situation. Policy makers need to understand the cradle-to-grave impact the downturn has had in order to develop policies and ensure the social safety net is wide enough to protect the most vulnerable populations. On Friday, February 5, The Population Association of America is bringing a panel of distinguished, nationally known researchers to Washington DC to sponsor a discussion on the impact the recent financial downturn has had on American families including:

Children of unemployed or underemployed parents
Young adults transitioning to higher education or the workforce
The aging and elderly

We hope you can join us for this important event. For more information or to RSVP, please contact: Lisa Rosenberg at [email protected]

Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus picture

Fragile X Syndrome: Can Drugs be Used to Reverse Autism?

Time: September 30, 2009 from 12pm to 1pm
Location: B369 Rayburn House Office Building
City/Town: Washington, DC
Event Type: congressional, biomedical, research,caucus, briefing
Organized By: Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus

Dr. Stephen T. Warren
Emory University

Dr. Warren led the research that discovered how the gene mutation responsible for Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) alters the way brain cells communicate. FXS is the most commonly inherited form of mental retardation, with nearly a third of FXS patients also having autism, making FXS the single best understood cause of autism and a model for autism research.

FXS is caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. Dr. Warren and his colleagues led an international team that discovered the FMR1 gene in 1991.They found that in patients with FXS, the expanded CGG triplet repeats can be repeated from 55 to over 200 times—whereas in healthy individuals the repeats range from 40 to fewer than 10. As a result of the hyper-CGG repeats, the expression of the FMR1 gene is repressed, which leads to the absence of FMR1 protein and subsequent mental retardation.

Dr. Warren and his team have since developed diagnostic tests for FXS. Clinical trials are now under way for FXS, taking advantage of the fundamental basic science research on FXS carried out over the past two decades. FXS is now used as a model of how fundamental research on autism could lead the way for future therapeutic interventions in autistic disorders.