The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering will hold a historic scientific symposium on technological innovation in medicine commemorating the first 5 years of the institute on Friday, June 1. The symposium, titled “Changing the World’s Healthcare through Biomedical Technologies,” will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lister Hill Center Auditorium, Bldg. 38A.

The symposium will feature many distinguished speakers. The 1964 Nobel laureate in physics Dr. Charles H. Townes will share his “Reflections on the Discovery of the LASER.” Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pioneer Dr. Waldo S. Hinshaw, a colleague of the late 2003 Nobel laureate and MRI co-developer Dr. Paul Lauterbur, will provide a Commemorative Lecture titled “Reflections on the Development of MRI.”

At a dinner reception the evening before the symposium, sponsored by the Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research, the Academy of Radiology Research and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher will give the opening address. The keynote speaker at that event will be former Apollo astronaut and former U.S. Sen. Harrison Schmitt, who was the last man to walk on the moon. In addition, the first NIBIB Landmark Achievement Award will be made to Lauterbur. Due to his recent unexpected death, his wife Dr. M. Joan Dawson will accept the award in his honor.

Others slated to speak at the symposium include Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine; Dr. Shirley A. Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University; Dr. Ralph Weissleder, director, molecular imaging research, Harvard University; Dr. Dennis Spencer, chair of the department of neurosurgery, Yale University, and a member of the first team to receive a NIBIB grant; and Dr. Elias Zerhouni, NIH director.

Preregistration is required. To view the full program or to preregister, visit www.NIBIBmeetings.org/Symposium. Sign language interpreters will be provided. For other reasonable accommodation, contact Michelle Murray at (301) 986-1891, ext. 130 or the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.