UK HealthCare hosting 2 nationally esteemed guests for 60th anniversary symposium
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2022) — As part of its 60th anniversary celebration weekend, UK HealthCare will host two nationally esteemed guests for a special event 8-10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14. The 60th Anniversary Symposium: Advancing Care in Kentucky and Beyond will feature Robert Califf, M.D., commissioner of food and drugs for the Food and Drug Administration, and Daniel Kraft, M.D., physician-scientist, innovator and founder/chair of Exponential Medicine.
“As we reflect on the past 60 years of excellence in health care and medical training here, we’re also looking toward our future,” said Mark F. Newman, M.D., University of Kentucky executive vice president for health affairs. “Health equity is a key goal of our efforts here at UK HealthCare, and I’m thrilled to welcome Drs. Califf and Kraft to offer their unique perspectives on how we can better serve patients here in Kentucky and beyond.”
The symposium will be hosted in the Karpf Auditorium inside UK Chandler Hospital Pavilion A and will also be livestreamed. This event is free and open to the public. Attendees can tune in virtually via Zoom or watch on the YouTube livestream.
About the speakers:
Robert Califf, M.D.: President Joe Biden nominated Califf to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and he was sworn in on Feb. 17, 2022. Previously, Califf served as commissioner of food and drugs from February 2016 to January 2017. As the top official of the FDA, Califf is committed to strengthening programs and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote the public health. Califf served as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco from February 2015 until his first appointment as commissioner in February 2016. Learn more about Califf’s background here.
Daniel Kraft, M.D.: Kraft is a Stanford and Harvard-trained physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and innovator and is serving as the chair of the XPRIZE Pandemic & Health Alliance Task Force. With over 25 years of experience in clinical practice, biomedical research and health care innovation, Kraft has served as faculty chair for Medicine at Singularity University since its inception in 2008, and is founder and chair of Exponential Medicine, a program that explores convergent, rapidly developing technologies and their potential in biomedicine and health care. He is often called upon to speak to the future of health, medicine and technology and has given four TED and two TEDMED Talks and has delivered keynotes to a diverse array of organizations. Learn more about Kraft’s background here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.