Funding and Monitoring America’s Health, with Senator Arlen Specter
SUNDAY, September 14, 2008, 4:00 P.M.
$9 members, $15 non-members, $7 students and teachers.
Reservations Required. Please call 215.409.6700 or order online.
Annenberg
Center
for Education and Outreach
Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
In the Preamble of the United States Constitution, our nation's founders broadly outlined the purposes of government, one of which is to "promote the general Welfare." Today, science and technology have opened the doors to constitutional debate about federal health policy, medical ethics and individual freedom that our founders could never have foreseen. To what extent are regulations provided by our government a reflection of the founders' mandate? When should government intervene, and when should it stay out of the way, when it comes to advances that help people live longer, more productive lives? To address these complex questions, the National Constitution Center welcomes United States Senator Arlen Specter and Dr. Frank Torti, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner and Chief Scientist, for a conversation about our government’s role in evaluating and regulating America's medical products, specifically in the area of cancer research. The Philadelphia Inquirer's John Timpane moderates.
Senator Arlen Specter is uniquely poised to discuss the important challenge of monitoring the nation's health, from both a personal and policy perspective. Senator Specter’s five terms have made him the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Pennsylvania’s history. On the Appropriations Committee, he led the fight to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health from $12 to $30 billion to expand medical research to find cures for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other maladies. Senator Specter is also the author of the new book, Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate.
Dr. Frank Torti is the FDA's Principal Deputy Commissioner and first Chief Scientist. Throughout his career, Dr. Torti has served on and chaired a number of national health and medical committees. He currently serves on the National Institutes of Health's National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. He also founded and serves as President of the Cancer Biology Training Consortium, a national society of cancer biology department chairs and program directors. He is the recipient of a National Institutes of Health MERIT Award.
John Timpane is a reporter and editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer. For 11 years, he edited the daily Commentary Page, and from 2003-2008 he was the editor of Currents, the Sunday opinion section. He has written or cowritten four books: Writing Worth Reading (with Nancy Packer), It Could Be Verse (1995), Poetry for Dummies (with Maureen Watts), and Usonia, NY: Building a Community with Frank Lloyd Wright (with Roland Reisley).
The Cephalon Speaker Series for Science and the Constitution is a partnership between Cephalon, Inc. and the National Constitution Center to attract national experts to discuss constitutional issues pertaining to the hard sciences, public policy and the law. From patent litigation and issues of commercial or corporate free speech, to patient health, safety, and bio-ethics questions, this series generates balanced, thought-provoking discussion and sheds light on the relevancy of the United States Constitution to modern scientific thinking.
A book sale and signing will follow the program courtesy of Joseph Fox Bookshop. Parking for this event is available for $7.50 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change. Please call the Center on the day of the program for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation. http://www.constitutioncenter.org/visiting/VisitorInformation/index.shtml#Map
The Cephalon Speaker Series for Science and the Constitution is presented with the generous support of Cephalon, Inc.
