(Research Triangle Park, N.C.) The Triangle was recently ranked as the No. 4 “Nano Metro” in the United States by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, trailing only Boston, San Francisco and San Jose. The Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative (The Collaborative) will gather 150 experts from around the nation at its second annual environmental health summit on October 8-9, 2009. The summit will be held at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park and focus on Environmentally Responsible Development of Nanotechnology.

The Triangle’s “Nano Metro” ranking is based largely on the number of companies and universities investigating nanotechnology, including Duke University’s Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnlogy (CEINT), North Carolina State University’s Nanotechnology Initiative and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, as well as numerous other nanotech programs. Private companies located in the region like Liquidia are developing ways to use nanoparticles to better deliver cancer drugs. The global market for nanotech goods is expected to grow from about $147 billion in 2007 to $3.1 trillion in 2015, according to Lux Research.

This year’s summit will feature a broad and experienced group of participants representing wide areas of expertise and diverse views from their leadership in Federal, State, and local governments; academia, industry, and public interest organizations.

“The Research Triangle region has become the epicenter for contemporary thinking about environmental health, and the Collaborative provides a neutral forum to host candid discussions and to provide advice on the most significant issues facing environmental health and related public policy,” said Collaborative chairman Ken Olden, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “There are still many unknowns about the environmental impact of nanotechnology locally, as well as around the world, and we have many experts in our region focused on various solutions.”

This is the second summit presented by The Collaborative, and will identify critical issues in nano-enabled product development and manufacturing and explore the nanomanufacturing landscape; so that businesses can overcome barriers to success related to environmental/occupational health concerns. The outcome of this meeting will be a guidance document to highlight these critical issues and provide business and policymakers with recommendations about how to successfully address them.

Mark Wiesner (Duke’s CEINT) will kick off the two-day event outlining various nanotechnology challenges, followed by keynotes from Chad Holliday (Chairman of the Board and former CEO of DuPont, Inc.) offering the industry perspective, Joe DeSimone (UNC-Chapel Hill/NCSU/Liquidia) explaining a bench to market process and Jo Anne Shatkin (CLF Ventures) presenting the life cycle approach to risk analysis.

James Bonner (NCSU), Brad Brooks (IBM), Jie Liu (Duke) and Gregory Parson (NCSU) will lead a work group about Nanomaterials Fabrication.

Lynn L. Bergeson (Bergeson & Campbell), Jurron Bradley (Lux Research), Nancy A. Monteiro-Riviere (NCSU) and Michele Ostraat (RTI International) will discuss Nanomaterials Integration into Products.

Steve Beaulieu (RTI International), David Berube (NCSU), Stephen Klaine (Clemson University) and Nigel Walker (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) will talk about Nanomaterials Disposal and End of Life Issues.

About the Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative

The Research Triangle area of North Carolina (The Collaborative) is unique with respect to the number of world-class organizations focused on environmental health research and policy and has become the epicenter of contemporary thinking about environmental health. The Collaborative is a non-profit organization supporting a united environmental health resource that connects organizations and institutions; links research and policy; and joins government, academia, industry, and public interest groups to mutually consider, discuss and debate the future of environmental health on a regional, national and international level. It provides a neutral forum to host candid discussions and to provide advice on the most significant issues facing environmental health and related public policy. www.EnvironmentalHealthCollaborative.org

The following groups have provided support to The Collaborative and the summit: SRA International; RTI International; The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences; Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina; Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment; Duke University Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology; Duke University Integrated Toxicology Program and Superfund Research Program; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health; UNC Institute for Advanced Material Nanoscience and Technology; UNC Carolina Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence; North Carolina State University Nanotechnology Initiative; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Environmental Protection Agency; North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources; North Carolina Division of Public Health; North Carolina Biotechnology Center; North Carolina Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology; Fleishman Hillard International Communications; VisionPoint Marketing; Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.; Hunton & Williams. The Summit is presented in partnership with Duke University’s ITEHP and SBRC (ES010356).