This mini course will set the stage for several discussions of particular issues of major importance and interest. What is "preparedness" and what are the real risks of continuing terrorism in the United States? What is the current status of preparedness in the U.S. hospital and public health systems? How do children differ from adults in terms of response to weapons of mass destruction (chemical, biological and radiological)? How do these differences matter in disaster planning? Are the needs of children being incorporated in local, state and federal disaster plans? Smallpox, anthrax and other biological threats: Where do we stand? What do we do? Nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, dirty bombs and potassium iodide: What do we know? The mental health consequences of terrorism: What have we learned since 9/11, how do we prepare children for an increasingly vulnerable world, building resiliency and sustaining a positive vision. The new pediatric agenda: What do we have to teach students, residents and pediatricians about the pediatric aspects of terrorism planning. Children and exposure to weapons of mass destruction: science and the essential research agenda.

Introduction
Paul H. Saenger, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY

Welcome and Context
Irwin Redlener, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY

Pediatric Preparedness for Terrorism and Disasters
David S. Markenson, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY

Biological Weapons of Terror: What Pediatricians Need to Know
Theodore J. Cieslak, U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Ft. Detrick, MD

Helping Children and Families Cope with Terrorism
David J. Schonfeld, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Radiologic Terrorism, Children and the Question of Potassium Iodide
Thomas P. Foley, University of Pittsburgh, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Children who are victims of violent behavior or merely observers of violence may learn destructive or self-destructive patterns of behavior. Violence is a major public health problem. This symposium will focus on breaking the cycle of violence and will showcase speakers who are working on violence prevention in the pediatric emergency department, school and community. The speakers will demonstrate what can be done by physicians who see the importance of this issue and the ways in which we can make a difference.

Violence Prevention in Primary Care: Moving from Public Health to Private Practice
Robert D. Sege, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA

Beyond Treat and Street: Violence Prevention in the Emergency Department
Joel Fein, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA

Efforts in the Community
Sheryl A. Ryan, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY

The National Children’s Study is a national prospective, longitudinal study of environmental effects, including physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial effects, on child health and development. The goal of the study is to improve the health and well-being of children. The study will examine these environmental effects on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The study is led by a consortium of federal agency partners: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For additional information, visit the website at http://www.nationalchildrensstudy.gov/.

The National Children’s Study—An Overview
Duane Alexander, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

The National Children’s Study—Methods
Peter C. Scheidt, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Children’s Health and Environmental Exposures: The Most Important Unanswered but Answerable Questions
Michael Weitzman, The AAP Center for Child Health Research at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

International child health work can take many forms, and there are an endless number of agencies involved. This workshop is meant to be an introduction to acquaint the pediatrician with what the options are and how to prepare for an experience in a third world country. Several pediatricians will discuss their experience in teaching and in international pediatric health care provision in developing countries. The presentations will include (1) what it takes to be prepared to go to international emergency situations, (2) what is needed to prepare for a longer-term experience in teaching or providing health care in a developing country, (3) what preparation is needed for a two week or one month "vacation" work experience in a developing country, and 4) what some of the agencies are that provide the options.

Sponsored by the American Pediatric Society.
 

The application of imaging technologies to solving questions in biology and medicine is revolutionizing medicine by accelerating analyses in situ and in vivo and providing new perspectives on biological processes as diverse as development, neoplasia and injury repair. In this plenary session, three internationally recognized speakers will focus on developmental processes and discuss how these new imaging technologies are providing dynamic insights into the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that underpin hematopoiesis and vascular development.

Introduction
Lisa M. Guay-Woodford, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Dynamic Imaging of Fluid Forces in Developing Mouse Vasculature
Mary Dickinson, Beckman Institute–Caltech, Pasadena, CA

Microscopic Imaging of Angiogenesis
Donald M. McDonald, University of California, San Francisco, CA

Watching Hematopoietic Stem Cell Engraftment and Hematopoiesis in Living Animals
Christopher H. Contag, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

Questions from the audience
 

Vaccines have an important function in preventing birth defects. The most obvious one is rubella vaccine and its application for the purpose of preventing congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) will be discussed. In addition, prospects of the development of other relevant vaccines will be presented. These will include: cytomegalovirus, parvovirus, herpes simplex and malaria. The first three, because they affect the fetus directly; the last, because of its adverse effect on pregnancy that results in small-for-gestational-age newborns.

Elimination of Rubella from the Americas by the Year 2010
Mirta Roses Periago, Director of PAHO, Panamerican Health Organization (PAHO), Washington, DC

Prevention of CRS by Universal Application of the Rubella Vaccine
Susan E. Reef, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA

Prospects for a Vaccine Against Cytomegalovirus
Stanley A. Plotkin, Aventis Pasteur and the University of Pennsylvania, Doylestown, PA

Prospects for a Vaccine Against Herpes Simplex
Richard J. Whitley, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children's Hospital, Birmingham, AL

Prospects for a Vaccine Against Parvovirus B-19
Neal S. Young, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Prospects for a Vaccine Against Malaria
N. Regina Rabinovich, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

Discussion

Each year, the International Health SIG tries to provide a program that appeals to both members and non-members interested in international child health. This year, we will first hear a presentation from the 2004 APA International Health Award winner discussing the health needs of children in the investigator’s home country. This will be followed by a panel discussion addressing the theme: "Getting Involved in International Child Health—Advocacy, Research, Teaching and Clinical Care." A panel of experts from these four areas will facilitate a discussion addressing opportunities for involvement in international health from the level of trainee to the level of faculty member. We will also hold an informal meeting for SIG members and anyone interested in becoming involved with SIG activities.
 

Includes selected original science abstract presentations as well as the Presidential Address, the International Health Award and the George Armstrong Lecture presentations.
 

Worldwide, more than 1,500 children per day become infected with HIV through mother-to-child transmission. Currently there are 2.7 million children living with HIV infection across the globe, >90% of whom reside in developing countries. While there have been enormous successes in the prevention and treatment of pediatric AIDS in the United States and Europe, it remains an open question as to how effectively these public health gains can be replicated in the poor countries of the world, which bear the greatest burden of disease. Efforts to develop an HIV vaccine appropriate for preventing infection among the world's children and adolescents are finally under way on a global scale. We will discuss these issues and accompanying controversies as they apply to the children of the developing world.

AIDS in Children—A Global Public Health Crisis
David L. Pugatch, Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown Medical School, Providence, RI

Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Developing Countries—Successes, Failures and Challenges
Catherine M. Wilfert, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Santa Monica, CA and Washington, DC

HIV Treatment for Children—Can the Successes of Rich Countries Be Duplicated in Resource-Poor Settings?
Mark W. Kline, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Finding an AIDS Vaccine That Works for the World's Children
Richard A. Koup, Vaccine Research Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

The symposium will be held on May 4, 2004 at the Moscone West Convention Center (8:00am–3:30pm). The symposium will bring together a distinguished, international group of scientists and clinicians to discuss several major childhood health problems of global significance, including:

• Micronutrient deficiency in childhood
• Perinatal aspects of maternal malaria and tuberculosis
• Genetic susceptibility to malaria and tuberculosis

Researchers are invited to submit abstracts relating to the above topics. Abstracts concerning other global health issues suitable for presentation to a diverse audience of paediatric scientists and clinicians will also be considered. Selected abstracts will be chosen for symposium or poster presentations. 

Wednesday, May 5, 8:00am – 5:00pm ~ Hilton San Francisco Hotel

The workshop will be held on May 5, 2004, at the Hilton San Francisco (8:00am – 5:00pm). It will provide an opportunity for individual scientists and clinicians interested in global childhood health issues, and representatives of participating societies, with the unique opportunity to help shape the direction of this new initiative. Plenary sessions and small group meetings will be used to plan for the future of the Programme for Global Paediatric Research. Topics will include:

• Establishing international communication between scientists
• The role of societies and paediatric research organizations in the study of global health problems
• Defining global health problems suitable for collaborative research
• Sites and topics for subsequent symposia

If you wish to attend the workshop and/or require further information please contact:

Contact for information:
Professor Alvin Zipursky
Hospital for Sick Children
555 University Ave.
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 1X8
Email: alvin.zipursky@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-8760