January 2009

SOT Councilors and NICHD Leadership Met To Discuss Opportunities to Work on Areas of Mutual Interest

On January 7, 2009, SOT Councilors Kenneth Ramos, Cheryl Lyn Walker, Ronald Hines, and Shawn Lamb met with scientists at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to identify areas where cooperative action will assist both organizations in their respective responsibilities. The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues, and medical rehabilitation. The Institute is a member of the consortium of federal agencies conducting the National Children's Study that will determine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of children, from birth to age 21, across the United States. The stated goal of the study is to "improve the health and well-being of children."

NICHD participants included Duane Alexander, Director, NICHD; Peter Scheidt, Medical Officer and Director of the National Children’s Study; Germaine Buck Louis, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research Branch, and David Siegel, Medical Officer in the Obstetric and Pediatric Pharmacology Branch (OPPB), representing the OPPB Branch.

Four major areas framed the discussion as follows.

1. SOT recommends that NICHD and SOT develop mechanisms by which the Society can serve as a resource for programmatic development in the areas of developmental and reproductive toxicology and children's environmental health.
2. SOT suggests that a senior NICHD official participate in the SOT Annual Meeting to provide information on ongoing and new NICHD activities that impact the toxicology scientific community.
3. SOT recommends that the NICHD leadership contact the SOT when nominations of individuals with specific expertise in the areas of toxicology, environmental health, and human risk assessment are required for appointments to existing and future advisory panels involved in the National Children's Study.
4. SOT recommends the formation of a liaison group between SOT and the NICHD to further our mutual global agenda on international human development and children's environmental health.

For more information, visit the NICHD Web site.

Nobel Laureate Greengard to Deliver 2009 SOT Annual Meeting Plenary Lecture

Paul Greengard, Vincent Astor Professor at The Rockefeller University in New York, will deliver the Plenary Opening Lecture, "Signal Transduction Pathways Used by Therapeutic Agents and Drugs of Abuse," on Monday, March 16 from 8:00 AM–9:00 AM in the Baltimore Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A. He is the head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, and since 1995 he has directed the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research at Rockefeller. The major aim of Dr. Greengard’s laboratory is to understand more fully the molecular basis of communication between neurons in the adult mammalian brain and to elucidate the molecular defects responsible for various neurological and psychiatric disorders. In 2000, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries concerning signal transduction in the nervous system. He received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1953. Before joining Rockefeller in 1983, he was director of biochemical research at Geigy (now Novartis) Research Laboratories and from 1968 to 1983 served as Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry at Yale University. Please visit the following Web sites for additional information about Dr. Greengard’s research and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s research.

Meet the Director of NIEHS and NTP, Linda Birnbaum

"Meet the Director" is a special 80-minute session where leaders of major federal agencies engage in a panel discussion of emerging trends in toxicology research and funding. This year the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP) welcomed a new director, Linda Birnbaum. She is a former SOT President and was president-elect of the International Union of Toxicology. Michael B. Holsapple, ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute, Washington, DC, will chair this session to be held on Wednesday, March 18, 12:00 Noon to 1:20 PM in Room 316. SOT Annual Meeting attendees will have an important opportunity to hear about Dr. Birnbaum’s plans for leading the NIEHS and NTP. She will discuss the Institute’s research portfolio, including opportunities for non-agency toxicologists. Time has been reserved to hear suggestions and answer questions from attendees.

NTP to Unveil New Non-Cancer Evaluation Criteria at SOT

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is working to bring the same rigorous standards it uses for classifying the outcomes of its cancer studies to many of its non-cancer studies. On Tuesday, March 17, 2009, from 1:30 PM–2:30 PM in Room 337 the NTP will sponsor a session to discuss the establishment of its new evaluation criteria for future NTP immunotoxicology, reproductive, and developmental studies and how these criteria can be used to draw study conclusions.

"We have a desire to have uniform [non-cancer] criteria for evaluating chemicals across studies and for studies across chemicals, much as we have for the cancer bioassays," said Toxicology Branch Acting Chief and reproduction and development discipline leader Paul Foster, Ph.D.

The NTP hopes you can join them for the exhibitor hosted session to hear about the new evaluation criteria.

Toxicological Sciences Update

BOP Committee Confers Best Paper Award and Four Honorable Mentions

The ever increasing quality of the publications in Toxicological Sciences (ToxSci) was evidenced by conferring four Best Paper Honorable Mentions in addition to the Best Paper ToxSci Award due to the high caliber of the candidate papers. The Board of Publications (BOP) Committee and Editors felt the applicants for "Best Paper" were among the most impressive set of nominees ever for the journal. The awards are as follows:

Board of Publications Best Paper in Toxicological Sciences Award

The PPARα-Humanized Mouse: A Model to Investigate Species Differences in LiverToxicity Mediated by PPARα (ToxSci, January 2008, Vol. 101, Number 1: 132–139) Qian Yang, Tomokazu Nagano, Yatrik Shah, Connie Cheung, Shinji Ito, and Frank J. Gonzalez

Honorable Mentions

Cumulative Effects of Dibutyl Phthalate and Diethylhexyl Phthalate on Male Reproductive Tract Development: Altered Fetal Steroid Hormones and Genes (ToxSci, September 2007, Volume 99, Number 1: 190–202). Kembra L. Howdeshell, Johnathan Furr, Christy R. Lambright, Cynthia V. Rider, Vickie S. Wilson, and L. Earl Gray, Jr.

Skin Sensitizers Induce Antioxidant Response Element Dependent Genes: Application to the In Vitro Testing of the Sensitization Potential of Chemicals (ToxSci, March 2008, Volume 102, Number 1: 110–119) Andreas Natsch and Roger Emter

A Method to Integrate Benchmark Dose Estimates with Genomic Data to Assess the Functional Effects of Chemical Exposure (ToxSci, July 2007, Volume 98, Number 1: 240–248) Russell S. Thomas, Bruce C. Allen, Andy Nong, Longlong Yang, Edilberto Bermudez, Harvey J. Clewell, III, and Melvin E. Andersen

Predicting Maternal Rat and Pup Exposures: How Different are They? (ToxSci, March 2008, Volume 102, Number 1: 15–32) Miyoung Yoon and Hugh A. Barton

NRC Releases Report on Risk Analysis Approaches Used by EPA—Calls for Improvements

The National Research Council (NRC) of The National Academies issued a new study on December 3, 2008, Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment. This report was prepared at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the Committee on Improving Risk Analysis Approaches Used by the EPA. The NRC press release states: "EPA's risk assessment process should be streamlined to ensure the appropriate use of available science, technical accuracy, and tailoring to the specific need of the problem." The report offers major recommendations proposed to enhance the credibility and usefulness of risk assessment related to improving the design of risk assessment, addressing uncertainty and variability, a unified approach to dose-response assessment, selection and use of defaults, cumulative risk assessment, stakeholder involvement, and capacity building. The committee states in the summary report provided at the link below that: "EPA's current structure and insufficient resources may pose a challenge to implementing the recommendations in this report, which are tantamount to "change-the-culture" transformations in risk assessment and decision-making in the agency."

NRC Press Release entitled: EPA's Risk Assessment Process Bogged Down by Unprecedented Challenges: Expansion of Current Model Could Help Meet Needs

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12209

Report in Brief: Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment

http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/IRA_brief_final.pdf

Full Report

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12209

SOT Members Eaton and Philbert Lead NRC Committee Reviewing Federal Nanomaterials Research Strategy—Report Available

David L. Eaton, SOT President 2001–2002, and Martin A. Philbert, SOT Secretary 2008–2010, served as Chair and Co-Chair, respectively of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee for Review of the Federal Strategy to Address Environmental, Health, and Safety Needs for Engineered Nanoscale Materials. A report from this committee was released on December 10, 2008, and focused on what would constitute an effective national strategy for ensuring that current and future uses of nanomaterals are without significant impacts on human health or the environment. Other SOT members on the panel included George V. Alexeeff, Nancy A. Monteiro-Riviere, Gunter Oberdorster, and Justin G. Teeguarden.

"The current plan catalogs nano-risk research across several federal agencies, but it does not present an overarching research strategy needed to gain public acceptance and realize the promise of nanotechnology," said Dr. Eaton. The report received extensive media attention from wire services (Associated Press and Reuters), newspapers (e.g., New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle), and major trade publications (e.g., Daily Environment Report, Risk Policy Report).

NRC Press Release Entitled "Federal Research Plan Inadequate to Shed Light on Health and Environmental Risks Posed by Nanomaterials"

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12559

Full Report

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12559

Non-SOT Meetings—Sponsored by SOT

• IV Neurotoxicity Society Meeting: Neurochemical Mechanisms for Neurodegenerative Disorders, April 24–26, 2009, Arica, Chile. For further information view the Program.
• The International Neurotoxicology Association, Twelfth Biennial Meeting (INA-12), "Gene-Environment Interactions in Neurotoxicology", June 7–12, 2009, Jerusalem, Israel. For further information visit the Web site.
• The Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) 2009 Annual Meeting, June 20–25, 2009, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, D.C. For further information visit the Web site.
  
• The Teratology Society 2009 Annual Meeting, "Gene-Environment Interactions: Impact on Maternal and Child Health," June 27–July 1, 2009, at the Wyndham Rio Mar in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. For more information about this meeting, please visit the Web site.
• 7th Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries (CTDC7), "Harmonization of Toxicological Issues between Developed and Developing Countries," September 6–10, 2009, Sun City, Africa (adjacent to Pilanesberg Game Reserve National Park). For more information, please visit the meeting Web site.
• The Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) 2010 Annual Meeting, June 19–24, 2010, The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, Chicago, Illinois.

Meetings of Interest

34th Annual Winter Meeting of The Toxicology Forum, January 27–29, 2009, The Fairfax at Embassy Row, Washington, DC. Visit www.toxforum.org for information on current and upcoming meetings.

NTP Convenes Board of Scientific Councilors Meeting Regarding 12th Report on Carcinogens

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) announces the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors meeting on February 24, 2009, at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC. The primary agenda topic is the peer review of draft substances profiles for some candidate substances under review for the 12th Report on Carcinogens. This meeting is open to the public and written and/or oral comments are welcome; the deadline for submission of written comments is February 6, 2009. To register to attend the meeting and obtain copies of the materials for the meeting, as available, visit the NTP Web site—or view the Federal Register.

On February 25, 2009, the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors Technical Reports Review Subcommittee will also meet at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC to review NTP draft Technical Reports. This meeting is open to the public and written and/or oral comments are welcome; the deadline for submission of written comments for this meeting is February 11, 2009. To register to attend the meeting and review draft reports, visit the NTP Web site—or view the Federal Register notice.

AAALAC Hold 2009 International Conference

2009 Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AALAC) International Conference on Quality Animal Care, March 29, 2009, San Diego, CA (before the PRIM&R meeting). Please note conference is held only every 4-5 years. For updates and more information, visit the AAALAC Web site.

Opportunity to Take Actions: Petition Urges Congress to Recognize Importance of Journal Revenue to Advancing Science

SOT is a member of the Washington DC Principles for Free Access to Science coalition and is providing you with a link to the petition below. The petition addresses the revenue from society journals that is reinvested in "support of science worldwide, including scholarships, scientific meetings, grants, educational outreach, advocacy for research funding, free dissemination of information for the public and improvements in scientific publishing." The petition states that the signers "do not support Congressional efforts to mandate when journal access must be provided" noting that such actions could "undermine…society’s efforts to promote the next generation of scientists and sustain innovative publishing." For more information about this petition, please go to the Web site.

We look forward to receiving news items from you about scientific programs and activities in which you are involved. Please send these submissions to Marcia Lawson.

Update of Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals—Call for Comments Due January 31, 2009

A National Academy of Sciences Committee under the auspices of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILRA) will be updating the 1996 version of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

The National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR), of which SOT is a member, has provided comments. In a January 16th Alert to its members, NABR noted that: "The ILAR committee overseeing the process is actively seeking input on the existence of new references or data supporting current recommendations, as well as references or data to support changing the current recommendations. It is very important the committee hear from individuals who oversee the care and treatment of animals, and are familiar with managing programs that adhere to the recommendations of the Guide, rather than only from those calling for an elimination of performance standards in favor of more rigid engineering standards."

To provide comments, go to the Web site.