DIA 2006 — Breaks Attendance Records September 2006 Sanjay Gupta, M.D., senior medical correspondent for the health and medical unit at CNN, practicing neurosurgeon, and an assistant professor of neurosurgery gave the keynote speech at the 42nd Annual DIA Meeting. The conference drew record numbers — about 8,600 attendees gathered in Philadelphia for the five-day meeting. Among the hundreds of sessions, a few highlights include Best Practices in Conducting Clinical Trials in India, a precursor to DIA’s upcoming meetings: Clinical Research and Drug Registration in China and India in September in Princeton, N.J. , and Drug Discovery and Development in India to be held in October in Mumbai, India. Another notable session covered the formation of a new SIAC, Legal Affairs, which will address pharmaceutical law. 1. Celebrating its expansion to BBK Worldwide, the patient-recruitment company drew upward of 800 attendees to its appropriately themed booth to watch live matches of the World Cup Football tournament. 2. Lisa Banket, Publisher of PharmaVOICE, and Scott Goldie, Ph.D., Regulatory Health Project Manager, Office of New Drug Quality Assessment, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, share a moment in front of the publication’s booth. 3. DIA in Philadelphia drew the largest gathering in its 42-year history: almost 8,600 attendees and 1,114 speakers. In addition, more than 800 attendees enjoyed the opening-night networking reception. 4. Marie Mazur, Senior Director, Marketing, Vaccines, CSL Biotherapeutics, and Carrie Johnson, Account Director, BAM Group, ably represent the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s membership drive. 5. More than 555 exhibitors from around the globe, including INC Research, gathered in Philadelphia for the 42nd Annual DIA Meeting. 6. Lukas Makris, Ph.D., CEO of BioCor, enjoys the opportunity to meet and greet the attendees. 7. Chad Buntyn, Senior Account Manager at xfactor Advertising, was one of four lucky winners of an iPod Nano, awarded by PharmaVOICE. 8. Collin Miller, Ph.D., Senior VP of Medical Affairs at Bio-Imaging, fields a question from a delegate. 9. Mike Griffin, Team Lead, IT, and Scott Fonseca, Manager, Business Development, of PhaseForward take a stroll around the exhibit hall floor.
