In a unique collaboration between the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau and Messe Duesseldorf North America, the two are partnering to launch Medical World Americas April 28-30, 2014, at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center.

Germany-based Messe Duesseldorf organizes MEDICA, the world’s largest annual medical trade fair, with more than 4,500 exhibitors and 130,000 attendees, which Medical World Americas will be modeled after, according to show management.

“The Americas represent some of the most significant players, if not the largest and fastest growing, in the global medical market,” said Joachim Schaefer, managing director of Messe Dusseldorf, “and therefore are a natural extension of the MEDICA brand and its commitment to innovation in the international health industry.”

Medical World Americas is not the first event that the GHCVB has partnered with to showcase what the city has to offer.

In November, the GHCVB had a minor stake in VP International’s Total Energy USA, a show that brought together several energy sectors all under one roof at the George R. Brown CC.

Greg Ortale, GHCVB president and CEO, said that Medical World Americas, as well as Total Energy USA,  is part of an overall strategy the bureau is committed to focusing on going forward.

"It is representative of a new initiative in our organization to capitalize on the business strengths of Houston and draw appropriate conventions and events, particularly in the energy, healthcare and aerospace industries,” he added.

At the Total Energy USA launch, Ortale had said, “This is the European model, so why don’t we learn from the Europeans?”

Houston isn't alone, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center also decided to take a chance on show ownership when it partnered with Imago Productions last year to launch the International Disaster Conference & Exposition. 

VP International has signed on as Medical World Americas show management, and Marketing Design Group also will work on marketing for the show.

"We're very excited to be a small part of harnessing the knowledge of the Texas Medical Center and the expertise of Messe Dusseldorf/ MEDICA to produce this event in quite possibly one of the most important periods of time across the healthcare landscape," said Vinnie Polito, who is managing director of VP International and previously was Reed Exhibitions' global head of life sciences and healthcare.

Medical World Americas is a conference and exposition that will allow participants to source a variety of medical products, equipment, technology and services for everything from prevention and diagnostics to therapy and rehabilitation, according to show management.

The conference component will be developed in collaboration with Texas Medical Center specialists and faculty members and focus on the following categories; Cardiology, Oncology, Infection Control, Hospital Occupational Health & Safety and Hospital Disaster Readiness.

As the largest medical center in the world, TMC will draw from its 52 member institutions constituting a workforce of 92,000 and exemplary programs, including the University of Texas MD Anderson and The Texas Heart Institute and Baylor College – both of which are ranked highly in their respective specialties by U.S. News & World Report.

Dr. Robert Robbins, CEO of the Texas Medical Center, has agreed to chair the Executive Advisory Committee for the event.

“When people across the globe think of health, we want them to immediately think of Houston,” he added. “Medical World Americas gives Houston a powerful opportunity, a platform, to tell the story about the Texas Medical Center and our community.”

Besides the Texas Medical Center, Houston is a hub for several other science and biotechnology companies, cutting-edge hospitals and health clinics.