Two former U.S. presidents and a former U.S. vice president will be headlining the keynote sessions at this year’s BIO International Convention, to be held May 3-6 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
President Bill Clinton and President George W, Bush will be on the stage for a panel discussion on domestic and foreign policy issues at Tuesday’s keynote luncheon on May 4. The Wednesday, May 5 keynote luncheon at BIO will feature former Vice President Al Gore, who will discuss climate change.
Gore’s speech will focus on the environment, healthcare reform and other pressing global issues with an emphasis on biotechnology’s role in addressing these challenges.
“For the past 30 years, Al Gore has been one of the most influential voices on sustainability, climate change and numerous other environmental issues,” said BIO President and CEO James C. Greenwood. “We are honored to have Mr. Gore address our BIO International Convention and share his vision for solving some of the world’s most challenging problems through biotechnology innovations that help heal, fuel and feed the world.”
Vice President Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce global warming. He also is the author of An Inconvenient Truth, a best-selling book on the threat of and solutions to global warming, and the subject of the movie of the same title, which is one of the top documentary films in history.
“Each year, we endeavor to bring the world’s top thought leaders to share their insights and vision with our attendees,” said Robbi Lycett, vice president of Conventions & Conferences at BIO. “Mr. Gore will continue this tradition of helping cement our Convention’s position as a ‘can’t miss’ event for anyone engaged in the life sciences.”
Wednesday’s keynote session is sponsored by Amgen, a leading human therapeutics company in the biotechnology industry. Past keynote speakers at BIO have included Colin Powell, J. Craig Venter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Duval Patrick, and Jeb Bush.
Presidents Clinton and Bush, who served in the White House for 16 years, will discuss a wide variety of issues relating to both domestic and foreign policy. BIO President Greenwood will moderate the discussion between the two former presidents on Tuesday, May 4th at 11:30 a.m.
“We are honored to have the rare opportunity to host two such influential and experienced global thought leaders as they share the same stage at the same time as headliners at our Convention,” Greenwood said . “We look forward to a thoughtful and informative discussion between Presidents Bush and Clinton as they discuss top issues and explore how biotechnology can create a better tomorrow by healing, fueling and feeding the world. I’m sure this keynote discussion will inspire and engage the global industry leaders in attendance.”
After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. Today the Foundation has more than 1,400 staff and volunteers around the world working to improve lives through several initiatives, including the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative which is helping 2 million people living with HIV/AIDS access lifesaving drugs. Other initiatives—including the Clinton Climate Initiative, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative, and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative—are applying a business-oriented approach worldwide to fight climate change and develop sustainable economic growth in Africa and Latin America. As a project of the Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative brings together global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. In the U.S., the Foundation is working to combat the alarming rise in childhood obesity, and is helping individuals and families succeed and small businesses grow.
Since leaving office, President Bush has focused on launching the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University. As part of that Center, President Bush recently announced the George W. Bush Institute to advance the principles that guided him during his time in public service. The four initial major areas of focus for Institute programming will be education, global health, human freedom, and economic growth.
Aside from keynote sessions, presentations and breakout sessions at the 2010 BIO International Convention will focus on research and development, partnership opportunities, and new business models required to meet global health challenges. The 2010 BIO International Convention is expected to draw between 15,000 and 17,000 industry leaders from 48 states and 60 countries. This year, the Convention program will feature more than 125 sessions in 17 tracks. New tracks for 2010 include Delivery and Manufacturing of Biologics, Global Drug Development and Marketing, Innovations in Vaccines, and MarketPlace Watch. In addition, this year’s BIO Exhibition will cover an estimated 200,000 net sq. ft. and host more than 1,800 exhibitors. Product Focus Zones within the BIO Exhibition will include BioProcess, Business Services, Clinical Trials, Contracts, Discovery and the BioPark.
