Attention News/Health Editors:

Metro Toronto Convention Centre to Host World's Leaders in Pediatrics
at Largest International Meeting Focused on Research in Child Health

    TORONTO, May 2 /CNW/ - The world's leaders in pediatrics will come
together in Toronto this month when the Pediatric Academic Societies
Annual Meeting and Exposition is held May 5-8, 2007 at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre (MTCC).

    Sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American
Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research and the Ambulatory
Pediatric Association, the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting is the world's
largest meeting to focus on current and future research in child health, while
also providing a unique venue for interdisciplinary scientific interactions.

  The PAS Annual Meeting is designed to support the goals and
objectives of each of the individual sponsoring societies -- to promote research and
academics, professional education in basic and clinical sciences, and to
provide a forum for networking opportunities for our members as well
as for the broader pediatric community. The meeting also supports the
development and recognition of future pediatric academicians, as well
as continuing education for current practitioners.

    Featuring over 2,000 individual presentations of original,
state-of-the-art science, the meeting is expected to attract 7,000
attendees, including global experts, senior researchers and promising young
scientists.
The MTCC anticipates this major convention will produce significant
revenue for Toronto's hotels, restaurants, shops and entertainment venues,
with an overall economic impact of approximately $11.2 million in direct
spending.

  The program will address all aspects of academic pediatrics and will
include a range of cutting-edge science, including basic to translational
(pre-clinical), clinical and health services research that reflects a
diverse range of pediatric academic disciplines. Featured topics and themes
include:
    -   the causes and outcomes of the obesity epidemic in children and youth
    -   the potential links between pesticides and learning disabilities
    -   whether honey works better than medication in calming night time
        coughs in children with upper respiratory diseases
    -   why tanning is a growing teenage fad and how to protect against
        potential skin cancer
    -   how much school recess children actually get

    A full list of the topics and presentations in the meeting program is
available at www.aps-spr.org.

    "This meeting is an important venue that brings great minds together to
share their experiences and thoughts at ensuring the health of children world
wide," said Dr. Sherin Devaskar, PAS Program Committee Chair.
"Globally children face diseases ranging from malnutrition to obesity. There is
an urgent need, for example, to improve immunizations targeted at preventing
infections that are sensitive and resistant to present treatments, to enhance
the impact of maternal health on the future of unborn children, and many other
issues affecting children. What is unique about this meeting is that while
addressing concerns that affect children's health today, a major focus is on
the future: research that targets future prevention and therapeutic strategies
towards improving the health of children everywhere," she added.
    "We are honoured to be hosting the international leaders in pediatric
medicine and science to Toronto and to the MTCC," added Barry Smith,
the Centre's CEO. "Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that takes care of
our world's most precious resource, our children. They represent our
future, and nothing is more important than the health of our children. There are
many urgent issues affecting the well-being of children and youth in our
world today. By bringing together the largest group of international experts
in Toronto next week, we can expect medical science to make great
progress," he added.

    About the PAS

    The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) consists of four individual
pediatric organizations that annually co-sponsor a joint meeting: The American
Pediatric Society, The Society for Pediatric Research, The Ambulatory
Pediatric Association and The American Academy of Pediatrics. Members of these
organizations are pediatricians and other health care providers who teach,
execute research and see patients, generally in the academic arena.
    The combined membership of over 9,000 individual members represents all
interests in pediatrics including specialists, generalists and private
practitioners. These four sponsoring organizations are leaders in the
advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy within the pediatric
academic community and are all dedicated to fostering the current and future
health and well being of all children worldwide. The four organizations have
met together for over 25 years. More detailed information about PAS is
available at the PAS website, located at: www.aps.org.

    About the MTCC

    The Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada's No.1 convention and trade
show facility and one of the finest in North America. With more than 2 million
square feet of state-of-the-art space, it is considered a world-class, tier-one facility. 

Since its opening in 1984, the MTCC has hosted approximately 12,000 events,
entertained nearly 40 million guests and has had a multi-billion dollar direct and
indirect economic impact on the City and Province.



    BACKGROUNDER:

    ABOUT THE CO-SPONSORS OF THE PAS ANNUAL MEETING

    AMERICAN PEDIATRIC SOCIETY

    The American Pediatric Society (APS) was founded in 1888 and has a
membership of 1,200. The objectives of the APS are to bring together men and
women for the advancement of the study of children and their diseases, for the
prevention of illness and the promotion of health in childhood, for the
promotion of pediatric education and research, and to honour those who, by
their contributions to pediatrics, have aided in its advancement.

    SOCIETY FOR PEDIATRIC RESEARCH

    The Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) was founded in 1926 and has a
membership of 2,300. The objectives of the SPR are to encourage pediatric
investigation by providing a forum for the interchange of ideas and provide
opportunities for younger investigators to present work. Other purposes of the
Society including taking such action as is appropriate to advance the causes
of pediatric medicine and the health and well-being of children.

    AMBULATORY PEDIATRIC ASSOCIATION

    The Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA) was founded in 1960 and
currently has over 1,800 members. The objectives of the APA are to foster the
health and well-being of children and their families by: promoting health care
services, education, and research in general pediatrics; affecting public and
governmental policies regarding issues vital to child health and to education
and research in general pediatrics; supporting the professional growth and
development of faculty in general pediatrics.

    AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

    The American Academy of Pediatrics, with over 55,000 members, is an
organization with primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical
subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists committed to the attainment
of optimal physical, mental and social health for all infants, children,
adolescents and young adults.

    BACKGROUNDER:

    ABOUT AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE FORMAL PAS ALLIANCE PARTNERS
AND
    MEET IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PAS:

    The PAS also welcomes subspecialty societies and clubs who meet or
co-host programming during the PAS Annual Meeting. Societies and clubs who
have aligned with PAS to host independent and/or joint programming in 2007
include:
    -   American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPH/O)
    -   Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD)
    -   American Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN)
    -   Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (LWPES)
    -   Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS)
    -   Society for Developmental Pediatrics (SDP)
    -   Reach out and Read (ROR)
 

For further information: Heather Evans, Marketing Manager, MTCC, (416)
585-8126, hevans@mtccc.com; Jo Martin, Director of Media Relations,
Pediatric
Academic Societies, (410) 446-3612 cell or (416) 585-3892,
JMartin@som.umaryland.edu; OR Jessica Spencer, PAS Media Relations
Specialist,
(410) 350-5007 cell

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2007/02/c3977.html?view=print



http://www.pas-meeting.org/2007Toronto/Schedule/Program%20Information.htm