Joint Meeting Keynote Speaker

The Academy is pleased to announce Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH as the 2008 Joint Meeting keynote speaker. Dr. Osterholm is the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Associate Director of the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Food Protection and Defenses, and Professor in the School of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Osterholm has been an international leader regarding the preparedness for an influenza pandemic and the growing concern over the use of biological agents as catastrophic weapons targeting civilian populations. He provides a comprehensive and pointed review of America's current state of preparedness for a bioterrorism attack in his New York Times best-selling book, Living Terrors: What America Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe. The keynote address will examine the effects of infectious diseases on health care and will be presented during the Opening Session on Sunday, Nov. 9.