President’s Message

Dear SoCal SOT Members,

As we start another productive year for our regional chapter, I’m humbled and honored to serve as the President of this Chapter for the 2025-2026 term.

It is my pleasure to first introduce our Executive Committee:

• Christine Hoffmaster, Vice President
• Patrick Allard, Vice President-Elect
• Amy-Tran Guzman, Secretary
• Dale Baker, Treasurer
• Mamta Behl, Past President
• Sabitha Papineni and Elana Elkins, Councilors
• Adam Filipowicz, Postdoctoral Representative
• Allen Louie and Jeanette Sullivan, Graduate Student Representatives

The committee is excited to continue advancing our core mission: To bring together everyone with interest in toxicology across Southern California!

As I take on this role, I want to first extend my sincere gratitude to Mamta Behl for her outstanding leadership in 2024-2025, as well as our outgoing team members: Gina Yanochko-Hoffman, Hemraj Dodiya, Stacy Schkoda and Rajat Gupta. Your hard work and dedication contributed to an extremely successful and fun-filled 2024-2025 term.

Additionally, as the Society of Toxicology’s only DUES FREE chapter, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our sponsors. Your continued support makes our chapter's activities possible as we strive to connect local Toxicologists from diverse sectors, including government, academia, and industry. Your support allows us to encourage meaningful interactions and collaboration through our events, such as our Annual Fall Meeting, networking and mentoring events, and our Chapter reception at the SOT annual meeting!

As we embark on the upcoming year, I am thrilled about the opportunities ahead, starting with the announcement of our 37th Annual Fall Meeting. This year, we are excited to host our Annual Fall Meeting at Ionis Pharmaceutical, Inc. in Carlsbad, CA on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for further details over the next couple of months. A key component of our Annual Fall Meeting is to provide a strong foundation for emerging Toxicologists, and particularly for students and postdoctoral fellows, through initiatives that foster education, networking and career development. These events serve to create pathways that support both individual and collective growth, so we encourage all members to engage with these initiatives, be it as a mentor or mentee as your contributions help to shape the next generation of Toxicology leaders. Students and postdocs, please keep an eye out for information on mentoring events and awards. We highly encourage you to submit an abstract and apply for our Annual Fall Meeting awards.

Lastly, we welcome new energy, ideas, and volunteers. If you would like to get involved in our activities throughout the year, please reach out to any officer to find out how you can contribute. Let's come together and collectively work to improve the visibility of our chapter at both the regional and national levels.

Kind regards,