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Visiting Scientist Program

Each year, The Manton Center will invite and host one or more visiting scientists from prestigious national and international Institutions to visit, teach, and lecture over a several day period. The interests and expertise of Visiting Scientists will be related to the mission and goals of The Manton Center for Orphan Disease research. In brief, The Manton Center has been established to encourage the development of new and innovative research on rare "orphan" conditions that have hitherto been understudied due to a lack of resources and interest on the part of the scientific and medical community. The Visiting Scientist Program will support the travel expenses, honorarium, and planning and meeting expenses for Visiting Scientists to visit The Manton Center and meet with, teach, and learn from, The Manton Center and other Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard faculty and trainees.

Visits typically last one to five days, depending on the interests and availability of the Visiting Scientist and The Manton Center staff. During this time, one major keynote lecture will be scheduled for the Visiting Scientist to present their work of relevance to orphan disease research. This lecture will be publicized throughout the hospital and to the broader Harvard Medical School community and will be open to the general public. In addition, one or more ancillary seminars or teaching conferences may be scheduled in smaller group settings. A schedule of meetings with interested faculty and trainees will be prepared, based in part on stated interests of the visitor. In addition, more intensive visiting time may be made available for the visitor to spend with particular scientists or clinicians, teaching researchers here, and learning and transferring expertise back to their home institution.

The Manton Center Scientists and interested colleagues will nominate potential candidates based on the following criteria:

  • Expertise and current research interest in an area of orphan disease research
  • National or international stature and recognition as an expert in their area
  • Interests that are compatible and complementary to The Manton Center's existing research programs and to the greater Children's community
We are pleased to announce Emil Kakkis, M.D., Ph.D. as the first Visiting Scientist speaker of The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research. Dr. Kakkis is best known for his work developing treatments for rare diseases including MPS I, MPS VI and PKU. He was also instrumental in creating therapies for 7 other orphan diseases. More recently Dr. Kakkis has shifted his focus to the regulatory system for orphan disease research. He has dedicated his efforts to improving the diagnosis and treatment of rare disorders--specifically the processes by which treatments are tested and approved. Dr. Kakkis began the Kakkis EveryLife Foundation and launched the "CureTheProcess Campaign" to modify the way the FDA regulates orphan disease research in hopes to allow for more efficient development of treatments and therapies. The Manton Center supports Dr. Kakkis's efforts to bring treatment to all patients, regardless of the prevalence of their disorder. We welcome Dr. Kakkis, and invite the public to his talk on September 9, 2009 at 2:00 pm. (please see "Events" page for more details)
Events hosting researchers, physicians, or groups of patients which help to establish or strengthen collaborations within the orphan disease community are eligible for financial support from The Manton Center. We were pleased to sponsor several events which hosted indiviudals from around the world this year. At this time, we have closed our application process. We hope to reinstate this open application process in the future, however it will depend on the availability of funds. We will be announcing when we are accepting applications via email blasts and through announcements on our webpage. Please check this page periodically to see if applications are available.
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