An opening speech for a academic conference

[Betterbetterman]

I am going to give an opening speech for a academic conference soon. Here is the draft of my speech. This is my first time to do this. Please help me pecfect the speech. Thank you so much!

Professor Zhao, professor Gross, dear fellows, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

On behalf of the cardiovascular department of our hospital, we are greatly honored and pleased to welcome you all to the Conference on Contrast Induced Nephropathy (CIN). As we know, CIN is the third most common cause of in-hospital acute renal failure, and is associated with long-term mortality rates, major adverse cardiac events, and the risk of undergoing renal dialysis. With rapid increases in the number of diagnostic imaging and interventional therapies, CIN has become a healthcare burden for governments and a challenge for interventionists. However, plenty of doctors practicing in intervention and imaging are not aware of the importance of CIN, and many issues concerning CIN still remain unclear and need to be solved. To raise awareness of CIN, this conference offers you a unique opportunity to gather here to share experiences and discuss evolving strategies for CIN, which definitely will result in the improved outcomes for our patients.

It is our great pleasure and privilege to have Professor David Zhao from the United States and Professor Peter Gross from Germany to join us for this conference. Professor David Zhao is the director of the Cardiac Cath Lab and interventional cardiology in Vanderbilt Heart Institute. He is one of the pioneering cardiologists in the field of percutaneous circulatory devices. Today he will give us a lecture on ‘State of Art Interventional Cardiology: 2010 and Beyond’. Professor Peter Gross is the chairman of nephrology section at the Universitätsklinikum. He has served in leadership roles in many professional societies and scholarly journals. Today he will give us a lecture on ‘New Advances in CIN’. There is no doubt that their lectures will bring us latest progress both in interventional cardiology and CIN.

With a large number of participants, we are sure that this conference will be a memorable, highly educational, and “not-to-be-missed” event. We hope that this conference will help you better understand the CIN and obtain the knowledge on the prevention and treatment of it. We truly value your participation and support for this conference. Thank you so much for coming and for your attention. Thank you!

[Shannongcole]

dear fellows [This may be correct, but sounds a little off to me... who are the "fellows": graduate students? faculty and staff at a university? If it is a common term at your university for a senior member at the university, I think it's fine.]

and the risk of undergoing renal dialysis. [this doesn't connect well to your first sentence.. "CIN...is associated with ....the risk of undergoing renal dialysis."]

which definitely will result [better: which will definitely result] in ["the" not needed here] improved outcomes for our patients.

Professor Peter Gross is the chairman of the nephrology section at ["the" not needed here] Universitätsklinikum.

There is no doubt that their lectures will bring us the latest progress both in interventional cardiology and CIN.

We hope that this conference will help you better understand ["the" not needed here] CIN and obtain the knowledge on [better: "become better informed (or educated) about"] the prevention and treatment of it.

(The last "Thank you" is not needed, as you have already said "Thank you" in the previous sentence).

That's all the major errors I found. It is very well-written. Congratulations!

[Betterbetterman]

Hi Shannongcole,

Thank you so much for correcting the speech. Now it looks much better. I have also learned some language tips. Thank you!

Tim