DIA 2018, which takes place next week in Boston, MA, will focus on the latest global trends, opportunities, and challenges related to healthcare product development, said Sudip S. Parikh, PhD, senior vice president and managing director, Americas, DIA.
“Like everyone, I’m excited by the extraordinary technological advances being made in the life sciences and information technology that have the potential to make patients better faster,” he told us. “Life science advances like gene editing, precision medicine, and tissue on a chip will be looked at by pioneers in each of those fields.”
The meeting also will address difficult, but important topics, Parikh said, such as the opening keynote by Nora Volkow on the opioid epidemic and a soapbox session on the implications of the recently passed Right-to-Try legislation.
Additionally, as the industry continues to face controversy as it pertains to gender equity, Parkih noted that “DIA 2018 will showcase a diverse group of key individuals driving the life science ecosystem forward.”
“The people driving the research, running the clinical trials, regulating the industry, ensuring the safety of drugs, and the patients themselves are a diverse global group."
“Barriers can be broken down when doing so is a priority. It starts at the top,” Parikih said, adding that the steering and program committees which built the DIA 2018 agenda have more women than men.
The meeting this year will feature more female speakers than male, with 81% of the educational sessions featuring at least one female thought leader and 89% of all panels having at least one female subject matter expert (SME) participant.
“It is true that 10% of our panels are only men, but it’s also true that 17% of our panels are only female,” Parikh said. “DIA’s meetings are volunteer driven and aim to bring forth the most knowledgeable experts and unbiased content.”
DIA NOW
DIA also is launching a new product offering, DIA NOW, ahead of the association’s 2018 global annual meeting. The new product will provide on-demand, curated access to information across DIA’s platforms, including conferences, publications, and podcasts.
Parikh said the product was launched to fill “a critical need for DIA members and their organizations.”
“DIA NOW enhances the functional performance of entire teams rather than individuals, and is especially valuable for bringing young professionals and new-to-role individuals up to speed quickly,” he told us.
Parikh explained that DIA will work with organizations to curate information create “common understanding of important subject areas across teams to enable them to achieve their goals worldwide.”
Make sure to follow Outsourcing-Pharma on Twitter for live updates from the event.