The NEC Society, in partnership with the University of California at Davis, is pleased to announce the full agenda for the nation’s first symposium on necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The NEC Symposium will take place April 6 and 7, 2017 on the UC Davis campus, and is made possible by a PCORI Engagement Award. 

Modeled after the NEC Society’s values of collaboration, patient-family centered care, and innovative solutions to complex problems, the NEC Symposium will take a transdisciplinary approach to improved NEC outcomes.  Stakeholders from diverse backgrounds are working together to plan a conference that engages clinicians, researchers, patient-family advocates, nonprofits, and policymakers to effect change in the shared goal of reducing the incidence of NEC in fragile and premature infants.

“Our vision is to attract the most influential of leaders who are involved in the study and advancement of knowledge in the neonatal NEC community,” explains Jennifer Canvasser, MSW, founder and executive director of the NEC Society. Neonatal NEC has shown little advancement in prevention or treatment options in over five decades, and is one of the leading causes of overall infant mortality in the United States, claiming the lives of nearly 500 infants annually and impacting thousands more.

Recently, the NEC Society announced the Symposium’s keynote speakers: Dr. Michael S. Caplan, MD, Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Chief Scientific Officer at NorthShore University HealthSystem, and Dr. David J. Hackam, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University and Pediatric Surgeon-in-Chief and co-Director of the Bloomberg Children’s Center of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Together, these two keynote speakers, who are internationally renowned champions for the prevention and treatment of NEC, will set the stage for the Symposium’s robust agenda, with topics including:

Animal Models of NEC | Defining NEC | Early Detection of NEC | Human Milk and NEC |  Increasing Funding for NEC Research | Innate Immunity and NEC | NEC Clinical Trials |  NEC and Neurodevelopment | NEC Prevention Checklist | NEC Registry and Biorepository | Parent Education and Involvement | Probiotics and NEC | Transfusion Associated NEC | Treatment Options for NEC

It is with great enthusiasm that the division of neonatology and the department of pediatrics at UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento join with the NEC Society in sponsoring this symposium. Dr. Mark Underwood, chief of the division of neonatology at UC Davis has been involved in NEC research for many years. “NEC is such a devastating disease. Recent discoveries suggest promising new strategies to prevent and treat NEC, but there is still much to be learned. This opportunity to bring together NEC researchers, policy makers and family-advocates to share insights and discoveries is very exciting.”

The NEC Society is grateful to the talented and dedicated clinicians, scientists and patient-advocates serving on the Symposium’s planning committee. It is an honor to host the nation’s first NEC Symposium.

This is a medical conference specifically designed for diverse clinicians, scientists and professional stakeholders. Accordingly, continuing medical education units will be available. In the coming months, the NEC Society will open the call for abstracts, release the detailed conference schedule and begin registration. Visit www.NECsociety.org for details as they become available.