Important Event: "Rejuvenating Public Sector Science"

The Center for Science in the Public Interest
4th National Integrity in Science conference

Announces Special Guest Speaker:
Dr. James Hansen
Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
"Threat to the Planet: The Dark and Bright Sides of Global Warming"

Register Now! (click here)
Rejuvenating Public Sector Science
A conference on restoring independent regulatory science

Registration is free for members of the press!

When?

July 11, 2008
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Where?

Ronald Reagan International Center
1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC
Full Agenda is below. Register now at:
http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=606569

Registration: $250 general or $109 for non-profits, educational institutions, and government agencies; $30 for students.

Housing for out of town registrants is at the Marriott Metro Center, 775 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Hotel Rate: $215.00 (Single/Double) + applicable taxes (14.5%). To make your reservations, call the hotel directly at202-737-2200 or 800-228-9290 by Thursday, June 19, 2008 and mention the "Integrity in Science Conference."

Agenda

9:00 a.m. - Welcome: Michael Jacobson, Executive Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest
9:05 a.m. - Introduction: Merrill Goozner, Director, Integrity in Science Project, CSPI
9:10-9:40 a.m. - Keynote Address: Representative Brad Miller, Chairman, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, House Committee on Science and Technology on

9:40-11:00 a.m. - Plenary I
Beyond the Phony "Debate": Government Science and the Climate Crisis
Panelists will discuss the role of government science in addressing the climate crisis now that the debate over the reality of the crisis has largely been discredited. Speakers will also address unresolved questions in climate science, and the urgency of government-funded science to promote alternative energy sources in light of national security concerns and the Peak Oil crisis.

Moderator: Sheldon Rampton, Research Director, Center for Media and Democracy
Panelists:
Rick Piltz, Director, Climate Science Watch
Anthony J. Broccoli, Director, Center for Environmental Prediction, Rutgers University
Herman Franssen, President, International Energy Associates
Ken Zweibel, former Manager of the Thin Film PV Partnership Program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Gal Luft, Executive Director, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security

11:00-11:15 a.m. - Break

Book signing with David Michaels, author of Doubt is Their Product

11:15-12:30 p.m. - Concurrent Breakout Sessions
A. Curbing Industry Influence over Regulatory Science
Panelists will discuss rules and regulations that inhibit government action to promote public health and a cleaner environment, from the Data Quality Act to undue Office of Management and Budget influence. They will also discuss ways in which collaborative industry-government partnerships can exert an influence over regulatory science.
Moderator: Reece Rushing, Director of Regulatory and Information Policy, Center for American Progress
Panelists:
Diana Zuckerman, President, National Research Center for Women & Families
Robert O'Keefe, Vice President, Health Effects Institute
William Hubbard, former Senior Associate Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration
Rick Melberth, Director of Federal Regulatory Policy, OMB Watch
Carol Henry, former Vice President, Industry Performance Programs (IPP) at the American Chemistry Council

B. Protecting Public Sector Scientists
Do federal scientists fear for their jobs for speaking the truth? Panelists will explore existing mechanisms for protecting government scientists including whistleblower protection regulations and unions, the adequacy of these mechanisms, and what can be done to improve them.
Moderator: Paul Thacker, investigator, Senate Finance Committee
Panelists:
Francesca Grifo, Director, Scientific Integrity Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
Adam Finkel, former Administrator, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
William Hirzy, Executive Vice-President, National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 280, EPA Headquarters
Stuart Gerson, Former head of Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Tom Devine, Legal Director, Government Accountability Project

C. Reducing Conflicts of Interest on Federal Advisory Committees
How is the integrity of regulatory science impacted by the presence of conflicted scientists on agency advisory committees? Panelists will explore ways to reduce conflicts of interest on the more than 200 science-based federal advisory committees, and debate the desirability and possibility of their elimination.
Moderator: Frank O’Donnell, President, Clean Air Watch
Panelists:
William McConagha, Assistant Commissioner for accountability and integrity, Food and Drug Administration
Dr. Anthony Maciorowski, Deputy Director, Scientific Advisory Board, Environmental Protection Agency
Sidney Shapiro, Professor of Law, Wake Forest University and Scholar, Center for Progressive Reform
Barnett Kramer, Associate Director of Disease Prevention, former head of Office of Medical Applications of Research, National Institutes of Health

12:30-2:00 p.m. – Lunch and speaker
Dr. James Hansen, Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
"Threat to the Planet: The Dark and Bright Sides of Global Warming."

2:00-3:15 p.m. - Plenary II
What Role for Industry? Setting the Comparative Effectiveness Agenda
Can better research lower health care spending? Sen. Barack Obama wants to create a new agency to compare the relative effectiveness of existing treatment options, and Sen. John McCain’s chief health care adviser says a greater role for such studies is imperative. But who should conduct those studies? And who will set the new agency’s agenda? Panelists will debate this major health care reform issue.

Moderator: Shannon Brownlee, author, "Overtreated," Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Panelists:
Gail Wilensky, Senior Fellow, Project Hope
Ezekiel Emanuel, Chair, Dept. of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health
Mark Gibson, Executive Director, Center for Evidence-Based Policy, Oregon Health Sciences University
3:15-3:30 p.m. - Break
3:30-4:45 p.m. - Concurrent Breakout Sessions
A. The Energy Future: Whose Alternatives?
Panelists analyze the potential for "alternative technologies" to meet energy needs in a post-carbon economy, and discuss the industry interests promoting these alternatives.
Moderator: To Come
Panelists:
Paul Gunter, Director , Director of Reactor Oversight, Beyond Nuclear
David Pimentel, Professor of Ecology and Agricultural Sciences, Cornell University
Mark Harmon, Professor of Forest Science, Oregon State University
Scott Sklar, President, The Stella Group, Ltd., Former Executive Director, Solar Energy Industry Association
Graham Pugh, Senior Policy Analyst, Department of Energy

B. Conservation in a Hostile Climate
Panelists discuss attempts by industry interests to dismantle environmental and species protections, and the shifting mandates of federal agencies entrusted with conservation of the natural world.

Moderator: Steve Davies, editor, Endangered Species and Wetlands Report
Panelists:
James Furnish, former Forest Service Deputy Chief, Agriculture Department
Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist, National Center for Conservation Science and Policy
Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior
Noah Greenwald, Conservation Biologist, Center for Biological Diversity

C. A Common Standard for Journals' Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Panelists will discuss the need for a common standard governing conflict of interest disclosure in science and medical journals, and what ought to go into one.
Moderator: Merrill Goozner, Director, Integrity in Science, Center for Science in the Public Interest
Panelists:
Thomas Babor, Editor-in-Chief, Addiction
Hugh A. Tilson, Editor-in-Chief, Environmental Health Perspectives
Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University
Jeremy Theobald, Chairman, Committee on Publication Ethics

4:45-5:15 p.m. - Final Plenary
Introduction: Kirsten Stade, Program Manager, Integrity in Science, Center for Science in the Public Interest
Speaker: David Michaels, Director, Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy
"A Sarbanes-Oxley for Science"

5:15 p.m. - Concluding Remarks

Conference co-sponsors include:
Beyond Nuclear
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Progressive Reform
Climate Science Watch (GAP)
Earthjustice
Edmonds Institute
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental News Network
Government Accountability Project
Mother Jones
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
OMB Watch
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy
Union of Concerned Scientists