Biopharmaceutical symposium in Savannah Nov. 6-10

October 5, 2006

More than 100 experts in the area of biopharmaceuticals and drug testing will be in Savannah November 6-10 for the 13th annual Biopharmaceutical Applied Statistics Symposium”usually known simply as ‘BASS.” This is the sixth consecutive year the group has met in Savannah, and this year’s event will be held at the Mulberry Inn.

The keynote speaker is Greg Campbell, who will speak on ‘The World of Medical Devices and Its Increasing Impact on Pharmaceutical Statistics.” Campbell is director of the Biometrics Branch of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. BASS, which draws biopharmaceutical experts from industry, government, and academe, was created as an opportunity for these experts to share insight and solve problems related to drug development.

‘In addition to our keynote speaker, a highlight of this year’s gathering is the series of presentations on Wednesday by FDA officials,” said Karl Peace, coordinator of the symposium. ‘Their presentations are fueled by first-hand knowledge of drug development and regulatory approval, two topics that are of great interest to the public today.” Peace cited media attention surrounding the recently recalled drug Vioxx as an example of the FDA’s power in the area of drug regulation.

Symposium presenters include representatives of major pharmaceutical companies including Novartis Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Inc., Millenium Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Wyeth, Eli Lilly, and GlaxoSmithKline.

BASS is a nonprofit entity founded in 1994 by Dr. Peace, a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar and a professor of biostatistics. This year’s symposium is sponsored by the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University and the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Department of Biostatistics. BASS has raised approximately $500,000 to create endowments for graduate scholarships in biostatistics at Georgia Southern University Foundation and at the Medical College of Virginia Foundation.

For more information, please contact the BASS registrar at 912-486-7906 or send an e-mail to bass@georgiasouthern.edu. The BASS Web site is http://bass.georgiasouthern.edu/.