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Current Newsletter
National Capital Area Chapter
Society of Toxicology Newsletter
Electronic Edition
December
2007
Issue
23
Renew Your SOT
and NCAC Membership at http://www.toxicology.org/script/loginredirect2.asp?page=dues
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 2
MESSAGE FROM THE
NEWSLETTER EDITOR 2
MESSAGE FROM THE STUDENT
REPRESENTATIVE 4
TITLES AND LINKS TO SLIDES FROM THE NOVEMBER 6, 2007 SYMPOSIUM
5
TREASURERS REPORT
10
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 11
The National Capital Area Chapter of the Society of
Toxicology (NCAC-SOT) was established to provide a regional focus for
scientists of all disciplines interested in toxicology. The Chapter acts
to:
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Sponsor and co-sponsor symposia on current
issues in toxicology.
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Provide an annual award to an outstanding
student in toxicology to assist in attending the annual meeting of the SOT.
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Maintain communication with the National SOT
regarding current toxicology and regulatory concerns.
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Sponsor regional Chapter events at the
annual meeting of the SOT.
MESSAGE
FROM THE PRESIDENT
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the 2007 accomplishments of the National Capital Area Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (NCAC-SOT).
This past spring the NCAC-SOT elected a Vice-President/President-Elect (Donna Mendrick of Gene Logic Inc.) and a new member of Board of Councilors (Katherine Squibb of the University of Maryland at Baltimore). The Board also appointed Amy Shaw of the Virginia Commonwealth University as our new Student Representative. In her role as Vice-President/President-Elect Donna Mendrick quickly went to work and organized the recent successful Fall Symposium entitled “Biomarkers of Drug Safety: Discovery and Regulatory Aspects”. You may visit our Web site to view slides from this symposium as well as those of our Spring Symposium (“The Role of Inflammation in Toxicity”). By the way, we are always looking for new ideas for symposia. Please contact me or Donna with your suggestions.
The NCAC-SOT held a reception at the national SOT meeting in Charlotte this past April and we hope that an Annual Meeting reception will become a tradition for our chapter. We are already planning such an activity for Seattle SOT meeting and intend to have the 2008 reception at “Wild Ginger” restaurant in Seattle on Tuesday, March 18th. All members of our chapter are welcome. Further information on this reception can be found in the meeting program.
A goal of the NCAC-SOT is to encourage area high school and university students to excel in the sciences and to learn about potential careers in toxicology. This year several Board members served as judges in high school science fairs in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. High school students with worthy projects were rewarded with certificates and cash awards. We intend to continue this project, the only one of its kind conducted by a SOT regional chapter, in 2008. We also are planning outreach activities to undergraduate students and I am pleased to report that several graduate students and post-docs received NCAC-SOT awards for excellent posters during the Spring Symposium and during the annual meeting. Our two Student Representatives, Chris Sheth and Amy Shaw, are currently planning a workshop for graduate students, to be held in Richmond, that promises to be very interesting. Please see the message from the student representatives, below, for more information.
Thanks are in order to Thomas Flynn, our Chapter Webmaster, and to Michael Orr, our Newsletter Editor. Both have done an outstanding job in publicizing our activities. Thanks also go to Debra Burgin, Secretary, and to Jennifer Weeks Sekowski, Treasurer, for recording the minutes of meetings and managing the finances of our chapter. I should note that all Board members have generously donated their time to participating in our conference calls, judging science fairs, attending and manning the registration desk at our two symposia. Their contributions of time and energy have served to further the goals of Chapter in the States of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
May you all have a happy and safe holiday season.
Gary Burin
MESSAGE FROM THE NEWSLETTER EDITOR
This issue of the NCAC newsletter contains some of the usual features such as the reports from our president, student representative, and abstracts from the fall symposium on “Biomarkers of Drug Safety: Discovery and Regulatory Aspects”. Please note that the presentations from the fall symposium can be accessed by clicking on the links provided below starting on page 6. In addition, to gain access to the either the spring or fall presentations view the symposium.
The 33rd Annual Winter Meeting in Washington DC on January 29-31 may be of interest to many of our members. Sessions such as “Re-evaluating Non-Clinical Safety Assessment of Drug Candidates-Revisions to ICH M3”, “Safety Biomarkers- Progress Down the Critical Path”, and “Animal Cancer Bioassays and Predictability of Human Cancers: 21st Century Standards and Goals” are just some of the interesting topics that will be discussed at this meeting. Learn more about this local meeting.
Furthermore, March 5-6, 2008 there is an AWIC Workshop on “Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act” in Beltsville Maryland. For more information please visit the Web site.
Please feel free to contact me with seminars or upcoming not-for-profit events in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia that may be of interest to toxicologists in our area. Please send these announcements to my attention (Michael.Orr@fda.hhs.gov), as we are very willing to publicize upcoming events that may be of interest to our members.
If you are interested in joining NCAC, an application for membership can be found at the end of the newsletter. Alternatively, you may want to use the on-line membership renewal method by clicking on the following link SOT Membership. Feel free to distribute this edition of the newsletter to colleagues who may be interested in joining our local chapter. The cost is nominal ($20 for full membership, $10 for student membership) and membership in the local chapter is an excellent introduction to local activities in the toxicology field. Additional information on our local chapter can be found at our Web site.
Mike Orr
MESSAGE FROM THE STUDENT
REPRESENTATIVE
It's that time of year again! Our annual Student Day will be held on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008, at the Virginia Biotechnology Research Park/Virginia Commonwealth University, MCV campus. This year's program is entitled "Life after Graduation: Stretching Your Degree to the Max", and will include speakers from government, academia, industry, and more.
Did we mention that registration is free if you RSVP prior to the event? Well, it is, so please make plans to join us then.
Fliers and registration information are circulating now, so if you have not received anything yet, please let us know. In fact, you can now contact the student representatives via a new centralized email account: ncac.student@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing any questions, comments or concerns you might have regarding student activities in the NCAC. We are also able to bring any issues before the SOT's Student Advisory Committee, which oversees student involvement in the Society, so do not hesitate to contact us. We'll see you on the 23rd!
Amy and I look forward to meeting each of you at this year's symposia. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at ncac.student@gmail.com or shethcm@vcu.edu.
Chris Sheth and Amy Shaw
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
National Capital Area Chapter—Society of Toxicology
President: Gary Burin ('07–'08)
Technology Sciences Group Inc.
(202) 828-8980
gburin@tsqusa.com
Vice-President/ Donna Mendrick ('07–'08)
President-Elect Gene Logic Inc.
(240) 364-7633
dmemdrick@genelogic.com
Immediate Past Suzanne Fitzpatrick ('06–'07)
President US FDA
(301) 827-4591
sfitzpat@oc.fda.gov
Secretary: Deborah
Burgin ('05–'08)
US
Environmental Protection Agency
(202) 566-0269
burgin.deborah@epa.gov
Treasurer: Jennifer
Weeks Sekowski ('05–‘08)
US Army
CHPPM
(410) 436-8774
jennifer.sekowski@us.army.mil
Councilors: Michael
Orr ('06–'09)
US
Food and Drug Administration
(301) 796-1604
michael.orr@fda.hhs.gov
Kath Squib ('07–'10)
University of Maryland
ksquibb@umaryland.edu
Thomas
Flynn (‘05–‘08)
US
Food and Drug Administration
(301) 827-8382
thomas.flynn@fda.hhs.gov
Student
Christopher Sheth ('06–'08)
Representative
Virginia Commonwealth University
shethcm@vcu.edu
Student Vice- Amy Shaw ('07–'09)
Representative Virginia
Commonwealth University
shawae@vcu.edu
TITLES AND LINKS TO SLIDES FROM THE NOVEMBER 6, 2007 SYMPOSIUM
5
"Biomarkers of Drug Safety: Discovery and Regulatory Aspects"
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Computational Framework to Predict Toxicity and Prioritize Testing of Environmental Chemicals
Thomas B. Knudsen, Ph.D.
Developmental Systems Biologist (title 42)
National Center for Computational Toxicology
Office of Research & Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007Knudsen.pdf
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Experience with a Biomarker Consortium
William Mattes, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
Director of Toxicology
The Critical Path Institute
Rockville, MD
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007Mattes.pdf |
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A Year of Working through a Biomarker Qualification Pilot Process at the FDA
Federico Goodsaid, Ph.D.
Genomics Group
Office of Clinical Pharmacology
Office of Translational Science
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Silver Spring, MD
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007Goodsaid.pdf
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Bridging Exploratory Biomarkers into Drug Development
Joseph Sina, Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Director, Systems Toxicology
Department of Safety Assessment
Mereck & Co., Inc.
West Point, PA
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007Sina.pdf
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Thinking About How a Preclinical Program Can Translate into the Clinic
Jerry M. Collins, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Developmental Therapeutics
Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, NCI, NIH
Bethesda, MD
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007Collins.pdf
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Monitoring Genetic Toxicity Indicators in Clinical Trials: Pros and Cons
David Jacobson-Kram, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
Associate Director for Pharmacology and Toxicology
Office of New Drugs
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
Silver Spring, MD 20993
Link to Slides: http://www.toxicology.org/isot/rc/ncac/symposia_files/Fall2007JacobsonKram.pdf
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TREASURERS REPORT
NCAC-SOT Treasurer’s Report
November 2007
I. Official checking account balance (10/30/07 statement): $14,310.15
II. Fall Symposium financial data:
Gross proceeds (incld. Registration fees and all membership fees) |
$1,870.00 |
Gross costs |
|
Catering |
$1,085.78 |
Speaker travel |
$0 |
Admin supply costs |
$86.08 |
Gross cost of Symposium |
$1,171.86 |
Net proceeds from Symposium |
$698.14 |
III. Data on Attendees:
Type of Attendee |
Pre-registered |
On-site |
Total |
Full member |
20 |
2 |
22 |
Student member |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Non-member |
16 |
0 |
16 |
Student non-member |
4 |
0 |
4 |
Speaker |
6 (no fee) |
|
6 |
Total |
49 |
2 |
51 |
IV. New memberships: $60.00
Full (3x $20)- $60
V. Unofficial Balance as of 12 December, 2007: $15,008.29
Respectfully Submitted,
Jennifer W. Sekowski
12 December, 2007
 
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
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Name: |
______________________________________________________ |
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Affiliation: |
______________________________________________________ |
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Address |
_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ |
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City: |
__________________________________________ |
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State: |
_____ Zip Code: ____________ |
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Area Code: |
______ Phone:
_________________FAX:____________________ |
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E-mail: |
______________________________________________________ |
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Membership Type |
______ Full
Member ($20) ______ Student
($10) |
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Please check the most appropriate responses:
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SOT Member
_____ Yes
_____ No |
Highest Degree Attained
_____ A.S. _____ M.P.H.
_____ B.A. _____ M.S.
_____ B.S. _____ M.A.
_____ D.V.M. _____ Ph.D.
_____
D.V.M./Ph.D. _____ Sc.D.
_____ M.D. _____ V.M.D.
_____
M.D./Ph.D. _____ V.M.D./Ph.D.
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Type of Affiliation
_____ Academia
_____
Consulting
_____ Contract
Lab
_____
Government
_____ Industry-
Chemical/Petroleum
_____ Industry-
Pharmaceutical
_____ Industry-
Other
_____
Other- _____________ |
Please complete the information above and send with a
check, money order or credit card (payable to [specific RC], no POs) to the
address below. The chapter to which you are applying will review your
application and you will be notified within 30 days. Those not accepted will receive a full
refund. Current RC members: please do
not use this form since your renewal dues are billed annually through SOT.
Payment Type: Money Order______ Check ______ Credit Card ______
Credit Card # _______________________________________
Exp date ________
Name on Card
______________________________________
Send to:
Dr. Jennifer Weeks Sekowski, Treasurer
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
AMSRD-ECB-RT-BM
5183 Blackhawk Road., Bldg. E-3831
APG-EA
, MD 21010
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