Newswise — Two keynote speakers have been confirmed for the CIMIT Innovation Congress 2009 conference -- Susan Axelrod, President, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and Mike Harsh, Chief Technology Officer, GE Healthcare. The CIMIT Innovation Congress, held each autumn, is the only conference where preeminent trailblazers of medical device technology join with national healthcare leaders to explore new ideas and build coalitions that facilitate solutions to our most critical healthcare problems
Susan Axelrod, President, CURE
- Voice of the Patient
Keynote speaker Susan Axelrod is President and founding member of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE). In 1998, Axelrod and two other mothers, frustrated with their inability to protect their children from the devastation of uncontrollable seizures and the side effects of medications, joined forces to spearhead the search for a cure for epilepsy.
Under Axelrod's leadership, CURE has successfully redefined the goals of epilepsy research as "no seizures, no side effects." CURE funds cutting-edge research grants exploring new areas and also sponsors landmark conferences, beginning with the 2000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Conference, Curing Epilepsy: Focus on the Future. This White House-initiated, CURE co-sponsored conference resulted in the development of the Epilepsy Research Benchmarks—comprehensive and ambitious research goals aimed at finding cures. Axelrod and CURE's commitment to the health of epilepsy patients has earned the organization the prestigious 2008 Child Neurology Foundation Advocacy Award of Merit.
Axelrod serves on the NIH's National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council and also as a consumer reviewer for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program within the Department of Defense.
Michael J. Harsh, Chief Technology Officer, GE Healthcare
- Perspective from Industry
Another keynote speaker is Michael J. "Mike" Harsh, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for GE Healthcare, a $17 billion division of General Electric with a mission to deliver better healthcare through innovation and technology to improve cost, quality and access and help enhance lives around the world. GE Healthcare consists of diverse businesses including medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and home health. AS CTO, Mike leads the global technology strategy for GE Healthcare.
In November 2008, Mike was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows, for his significant contributions to the medical and biological engineering field. Additionally, Mike holds numerous U.S. patents in the field of Medical Imaging and Instrumentation.
Additional Keynotes Invited
Additional keynote perspectives will be offered by prominent leaders in government, technology, and the military.
CIMIT Innovation Congress 2009: Accelerating Healthcare Solutions through Technology
The event will be held Oct. 27-28 at the Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley St., Boston. For more information go to: http://www.cimit.org/innovationcongress.html.
CIMIT (Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology) fosters and nurtures interdisciplinary collaboration among world-class experts in medicine, science and engineering, in concert with industry and government, to rapidly improve patient care. A non-profit consortium of Boston-area teaching hospitals and engineering schools, CIMIT provides innovators with resources to explore, develop and implement novel technological solutions for today's most urgent healthcare problems. http://www.cimit.org
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