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Spring Issue 2008
President's Message
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President
Kenneth Ramos |
Our Annual Meeting affords us a magnificent opportunity to share new advances in toxicology, to network with friends and colleagues, and to evaluate our goals and aspirations for the year ahead. And 2008 was no exception! The roll-out of our new strategic plan was a hot topic for discussion at the meeting, and I was pleased to witness the enthusiastic reception of the plan—at all levels of the organization—and the swiftness with which we have begun to “own” the plan. The plan is being used to chart our path forward and to guide our efforts in the areas of scientific advancement, advocacy for the value of toxicology, the future of the profession, services to our members, and stability of the organization.
My own expectation is to tie our strategic activities to the concepts outlined below in order to actualize programs and events of importance to SOT members. These concepts are:
- Reaffirming and emphasizing our core values
- Strengthening scientific and professional competitiveness
- Promoting new partnerships
- Defining the frontiers of 21st century science.
Each of my forthcoming columns will explore in detail these concepts, beginning with the meaning of “reaffirming our core values.” Since 1961, the Society has steadily moved forward in its commitment to “creating a safer and healthier world by advancing the science of toxicology.” This core value has in fact been captured in our new vision statement and helped us to crystallize our strategic objectives for the next 3 years. We already demonstrate our commitment to impacting the science through our prestigious Toxicological Sciences journal. Each issue of the Communiqué newsletter highlights the Top Five Frequently cited articles, challenging each of us to aspire to a prominent place on this list.
As asked at the Business Meeting in March, I now ask those of you reading this column, “What will you do this coming year to advance the frontiers of science?” “How will you rely on those advances to create a safer world?” and “How can SOT help you get there?” A critical element in this dialogue will require effective communication between Council and the membership. To this end, I am working with SOT staff to develop short surveys addressing issues of topical interest and relevance in an effort to sustain a dialogue about opportunities and challenges and to work together to evaluate new and existing programs in support of our strategic priorities.
One way in which the Society is advancing the toxicological sciences is through concerted efforts to feature high profile speakers at the Annual Meeting and special conferences that enlighten and inspire the membership. Indeed, several presentations at the 2008 Annual Meeting represented outstanding depictions of the application of fundamental research to elucidate our understanding of human health and disease and their linkages to toxicology. Of note were Nobel Laureate Lee Hartwell who presented a Plenary Opening Lecture on “Perspectives on Science in the 21st Century,” and Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John E. Walker who delivered the Medical Research Council (MRC) Lecture on “Biological Energy Conversion and Its Toxic Consequences.” These lectures assisted in framing many of the events and activities at the Annual Meeting—attended by over 6800 attendees—the largest in the history of SOT.
The response to the new thematic approach has been overwhelmingly positive and the stage is now set for moving forward with the themes for 2009, including Biomarkers, Epigenetics, Inflammation and Disease, and Neurodegenerative Disease. Because of the great interest and promise of Nanotechnology, this theme will again be highlighted. To ensure programming flexibility, new themes will be developed from submitted abstracts in other areas, as appropriate.
A session of great importance to SOT Members was a dialogue with the NIH Center for Scientific Review Director Dr. Antonio Scarpa who described the creation of a new Systemic Injury by Environmental Exposure (SIEE) Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) as part of the Digestive Disease Integrated Review Group. This SEP establishes a temporary review body populated by toxicologists to evaluate toxicology grant applications starting June 2008. For this SIEE to be considered for conversion to a standing Study Section, toxicologists need to request their qualifying grants to be assigned to this new SEP. SOT leaders and members worked diligently over a number of years to realize this breakthrough and now it is imperative that we work together to sustain and expand the effort.
As the major Society in the world organized to advance the science of toxicology, we face multiple challenges. Of particular concern to me are the reduced financial resources now available to carry out our mandate, the shrinking pool of students attracted to science careers, the increasing scrutiny of core scientific values and the credibility of science, and the increased emphasis on what pulls the scientific community apart rather than what brings us together. Our ability to overcome these and other challenges demands that we continue to build on our reputation for value and to create nimble structures poised to tackle the challenges of an ever changing landscape.
And, the impact of our discipline continues to be affirmed by the greater scientific community! Recently, I attended a meeting of the Council of Scientific Presidents (CSSP) and was pleased to witness the central role of toxicology in many of CSSP’s initiatives. CSSP is an organization of presidents, presidents-elect, and recent past presidents of about sixty scientific federations and societies whose combined membership numbers well over 1.4 million scientists and science educators.
It is clear that our discipline is vital to “defining the frontier of 21st century science” and in future columns I will explore how you and SOT can take an increasingly active role in this progress.
Kenneth Ramos,
2008–2009 SOT President
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