January 15, 2009: The Food and Drug Law Institute will host its 2nd Annual Conference on Nanotechnology Law, Regulation and Policy Feb. 18 to 19 at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, in downtown Washington.

The conference is designed to keep inform attendees about what’s happening internationally on nanotech regulation, how venture capitalists look at the future of nanotechnology and what the leading corporations, scientific laboratories and academic centers are focusing on in the field.

With stakeholders now focused on how the government will regulate nanotechnology products in various markets, including nutraceuticals and foods, FDLI, with support from the Burdock Group and Arizona State University, have one again assembled top officials from FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss their plans for managing and monitoring these products.

Among the questions to be explored at the conference will be:

• For nanotech products and processes, should particle size make a regulatory difference?
• Are China and Japan ahead of the U.S. in nanotech development?
• What progress is FDA making in implementing its Nanotechnology Task Force Report?
• Will the heavily Democratic Congress invest in and/or regulate more than under the Bush Administration?
• What is reasonable and required federal funding for U.S nanotechnology R&D, including monies for safety and social policy research?
• Are workers exposed to asbestos-like dangers from dealing with nano products?
• How does a responsible company devise a risk management plan for nanotech development — one that takes into account OSHA and NIOSH policy?