The Texas Lyceum convenes for its 2012 Public Conference this weekend, one that has been ambitiously billed as "Healthcare Innovation: The Next Spindletop for Texas?"
Pulling together the heads of the state's major medical schools and cancer institutions, plus legislators, advocacy groups, philanthropists and venture capitalists, the nonprofit, nonpartisan event will address the topic of whether medicine can serve as Texas' next big boom and what we can do to get there.
"It's a respectful place to have meaningful dialogue," explains Dr. Jennifer Litton, speaker at the conference and assistant professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who says that she has never seen this sort of collaboration between medical institution presidents working toward the same goal.
Friday's agenda outlines the esteemed panelists who will address how to train medical professional and educators to meet needs for the future; how to best bring research and innovations to patients; the future of medical treatment for cancer; how to fund new discoveries; and why Texas is best poised to take on the challenges.
Litton explained that the state is already established as an industry hotspot, with the infrastructure in place to commercialize the research that comes out of the institutions. But, as she lamented, "Texas loses out on the next step."
Learn about these topics first-hand at the public conference, which will be held in the Shell Auditorium of Rice University's McNair Hall on Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Register online here.
