Speakers will address topics such as: how a child’s genes, early environment, nutrition and ...]]>

More than 6,500 leaders in academic pediatrics from around the world will converge on Boston for the 2012 annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies to be held Saturday, April 28 through Tuesday, May 1, at the Hynes Convention Center.

Speakers will address topics such as: how a child’s genes, early environment, nutrition and other factors affect future disease risk; signs of mental illnesses in young children; the quality of the food supply; stopping obesity; and weighing recommendations on vitamin D.

Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff will keynote the meeting with a talk about his time on the space station and NASA’s goal of inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.

More than 3,000 scientific papers will be presented on topics from prematurity and infancy through adolescence and diseases that carry into adulthood.