NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (May 4, 2015) – Johnson & Johnson announced that it is bringing back the landmark Kilmer Conference on sterility assurance and sterilization, with the next conference set for May 2016. Johnson & Johnson hosted eight Kilmer Conferences between 1976-2003 for invited sterility assurance professionals from industry, academia and regulatory authorities. To mark the conference’s revival, Johnson & Johnson will donate the conference proceedings from all past Kilmer Conferences to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). The proceedings from those conferences contain the history and rationale for many of the current AAMI sterilization standards in use today. The conference proceedings will be available in a searchable “e-book” format on the AAMI website.
The Kilmer Conference is a reminder of the pioneering efforts by Johnson & Johnson in the field of sterilization and sterility assurance – efforts on which the Company was founded. As host of the Kilmer Conference, Johnson & Johnson helped shape this technical field as we know it today.
“We’re very excited to bring back the Kilmer Conferences, which have been landmark events for building the field of sterilization and sterility assurance,” said Joyce Hansen, Vice President, Sterility Assurance for Johnson & Johnson. “For 27 years, the conferences gave our professional community a venue to share best practices and exchange ideas. Real innovation happened there. All of the concepts and technical research first presented at Kilmer Conferences are still in use today.”
Kilmer Conferences take their name from Fred Kilmer, who was a pioneer in the pharmaceutical industry and director of Johnson & Johnson’s scientific laboratory from 1889-1934. The Company’s Kilmer Museum, located at Johnson & Johnson headquarters in New Brunswick, NJ, is named in his honor. The previous conferences focused on advancements in sterilization, new validation methods, and world health issues. The first conference took place in East Windsor, NJ and the last took place in Osaka, Japan. With a nod to their proud heritage, the 2016 revival of the Kilmer Conference will begin back where it all started, in the Company’s home state of New Jersey.
“The historical proceedings reveal a history of innovation and are a guide for where we need to go,” said Hansen. “Johnson & Johnson is proud to have helped shape this field, and is excited to partner with AAMI to provide the entire industry access to this vital repository.”
“In an evolving and dynamic healthcare environment, the importance of the sterilization and sterility assurance community is a constant, and our best practices must adapt to many changes,” Hansen added. “We look forward to convening industry leaders, standard and policy setting associations, regulatory agencies, and academia next year as the Kilmer Conference once again becomes the premier global forum for our technical competency.”
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Contact:
Jill Steinberg
Johnson & Johnson
732-524-1736
732-484-1684 (M)