Anita Villani is a Staff Oncologist at The Hospital for Sick Children and an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She has a clinical and research interest in cancer genetics and predisposition, and in the translational implementation of genomic sequencing technologies into clinical oncology care. Anita is the Co-Director of the SickKids Precision Oncology Research Program (“KiCS”) and an active member of the Canadian national precision medicine program, PROFYLE. She is co-Principle Investigator of the Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition (C3P) and of a multicentre, longitudinal registry study, the Childhood Cancer Predisposition Study (CCPS).  She is co-chair of the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Working Group within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).

Anita received her medical degree at the University of Ottawa. She completed both her Paediatric residency training and Haematology/Oncology fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She obtained her Master of Science degree in Genetics and Genome Biology through the Clinician Investigator Program and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.

Dr Villani will present her seminar entitled "Risk of Therapy-Related Subsequent Cancers in Individuals with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome: An Example of Collaboration to Advance Care and Research for Childhood Cancer Predispositions"

Join us for the Georgia Tech Pediatric Innovation Network Invited Speaker Series, featuring Kristen Mittal, MS, RAC, PMP, Founder and CEO of Mittal Consulting. In her talk, "Decoding FDA Regulations: Pitfalls and Pearls for Medtech Entrepreneurs," Kristen will share her extensive expertise in regulatory affairs for Class I, II, and III medical devices. Learn key strategies to navigate FDA regulations, avoid common pitfalls, and set your medtech venture up for success. This session is perfect for entrepreneurs, innovators, and healthcare professionals eager to excel in the medical device industry.

Emerging evidence has highlighted that protein intrinsic disorder is a prominent feature in the proteomes of living systems. Such disordered protein structures represent a frontier for new discoveries in protein science. With the advent of new tools in AI and machine learning, and a growing realization of the connection between protein disorder, dynamic protein modification, protein folding, and molecular assemblies (e.g. amyloids or phase-separated protein structures), the field has seen considerable growth in recent years and shares the promise of new discoveries in protein design, control, and fundamental biological understanding. This symposium will host five internationally recognized external speakers and five Georgia Tech faculty with research foci in three major areas of interest, including: LLPS/Molecular Compartmentalization, Disorder/Order Transitions, and Protein Misfolding/Amyloids.

Join us for an enlightening episode of the Pediatric Tech Talk Webinar featuring Dr. Gabriel Kwong, a pioneering expert in bioengineering and immunology. Dr. Kwong, an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech and Emory University, will discuss cutting-edge advancements in immune cell engineering and biosensors that are transforming pediatric healthcare. Discover how these innovations enhance cancer treatment precision and expand access to life-saving therapies. Whether you're a specialist or a science enthusiast, this session offers valuable insights into the future of biomedical technology. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a leader in the field!

The Tech AI Fest 2025 hosted by Tech AI at Georgia Tech, will take place March 26–28 at the Historic Academy of Medicine. This event will showcase AI innovation, networking, and collaboration through talks, panels, and presentations featuring leaders from academia, government, and industry, along with researchers, students, and alumni.

Tech AI is dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence research and field deployment through innovation, collaboration, industry partnerships and workforce development. Its mission is to create an empowering platform for AI researchers at Georgia Tech to transform scientific breakthroughs into societal impacts.

A company’s regulatory strategy can determine its success—or failure. For investors, venture capital professionals, and family office managers, understanding the key regulatory milestones in the life sciences sector is essential to assessing risk, managing timelines, and making informed investment decisions.

This virtual session will provide a deep dive into the FDA regulatory process for medical devices and life science innovations, helping you identify red flags, evaluate a company’s regulatory preparedness, and ask the right questions before investing.

What You’ll Gain:
A structured overview of regulatory pathways for medical devices, diagnostics, and combination products.
Insights into how regulatory readiness impacts valuation, funding strategies, and market entry.
Key risk factors that can delay approval and increase costs.
Practical guidance on evaluating regulatory due diligence and company readiness.

Who Should Attend:
This session is designed for investors, venture capital professionals, entrepreneurs, and family office managers seeking to strengthen their understanding of the regulatory landscape in life sciences.

Dr. Scherer is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. She is also Director of the Hope Clinic Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) Research Laboratory and a full member of both the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis graduate programs in the Laney Graduate School. Dr. Scherer joined Emory on March 1, 2020.

Dr. Scherer received a bachelor of science degree summa cum laude in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Scherer pursued graduate studies at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, where she was selected into a joint PhD/DPhil program with the University of Oxford in the UK. After focusing largely on mechanisms of HIV inhibition by broadly neutralizing anti-HIV antibodies for her graduate work, Dr. Scherer transitioned to cellular immunology research in HIV and HPV vaccinology for her postdoctoral studies in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington and in the Human Biology Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. Following her postdocs, Dr. Scherer transitioned to lead an antibody discovery team in biotech for approximately two years at Seagen, the then largest oncology therapeutics biotech in the Seattle area. Realizing her passion for infectious disease vaccine research, Dr. Scherer returned to the field as a fellow in the Respiratory Disease Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two years before joining Emory as faculty.

CF-AIR will be hosting Charles Esther, MD, PhD, Professor, Pediatric Pulmonology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, for a virtual visit and talk on "Mucus, Microbes, and Inflammation: the Vicious Vortex in CF Airways Disease." Participants can join in-person in Emory Children's Center room 302, or virtually via Zoom. 

The Marcus Autism Center Spring Symposium (formerly the Autism Treatment Symposium) is a one-day symposium during which faculty, staff, and other community professionals will disseminate their latest treatment research.

Invited Speaker: 
Vivian Ibanez, PhD, BCBA-D
University of Florida Health Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, Pediatric Feeding Disorders
Topic: "The Importance of Secondary Analyses During Behavioral Feeding Treatment"

Click "RSVP" below to register.
Free BACB CEs available!

For questions, please contact Dr. Chelsea Fleck at Chelsea.Fleck@choa.org.

The 2025 International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR) will be held on the campus of Georgia Tech from May 14-16, 2025. The symposium will begin with the workshop(s)/tutorial(s) held on May 14 and the subsequent single-track symposium presentations will be at the Kendeda Building at Georgia Tech from May 15-16. This symposium will feature invited talk(s) and workshops in addition to single-track oral/poster presentations of original research.

As in the past, we also have the biennial school on medical robotics. In 2025, the Spring School on Medical Robotics (SSMR) will be from May 17-18, 2025, on the campus of Georgia Tech and will feature several invited speakers. 2025 ISMR and SSMR have been planned to be back-to-back with 2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), which will be held in Atlanta, GA, USA from May 19-23, 2025.

The goal of ISMR is to bring together world-class researchers to present state-of-the-art research achievements and advances in surgical robotics, image-guided interventions, rehabilitation and assistive robotics, and prosthetics, as well as discuss challenges from the clinical point of view and address industry needs. It is envisioned that medical robots will integrate emerging technologies including soft robotics, smart materials, ergonomics, co-robotics, and artificial intelligence in the near future, and these topics will be featured in the symposium.

Potential topics for the symposium submissions include, but are not limited to, state-of-the-art research achievements and advances in surgical robotics, rehabilitation and assistive robotics, prosthetics, image-guided interventions, haptics, safety of robot-assisted procedures, training of medical personnel, and discussing potential challenges from the clinical point of view.