Events

Hosted by: The SOT Toxicologists of African Origin and Arab Toxicologists Association Special Interest Groups

Carbon dioxide is known as a greenhouse gas by virtue of it releasing heat, radiating from the earth’s surface, and releasing it in all directions, including back to earth. Each year, human activities release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes can remove, causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase Petrochemical plants and refineries release millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. Consequently, industry has been increasingly interested in means to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide it releases. One means of decreasing this greenhouse gas is to capture and store it underground. Objections to this plan have been raised in some communities, especially Black communities where the plants are extremely close to Black churches and schools. In particular, they have been termed, “Cancer Alley,” and objections have been very strong.

The purpose of this webinar is to present information on what carbon capturing is as a technology, its possible benefits, and its risks to the health of communities that may be affected.

Speaker(s):
Cynthia Ebinger, PhD, MS, Professor, Tulane University, College of Science and Engineering
Rebecca Parkhurst, PhD, Assistant Director, Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics, US Government Accountability Office
Janina Jeff, PhD, MS, Staff Bioinformatics Scientist, Illumina

Materials:
Webinar Recording and Materials

Hosted by: SOT Arab Toxicologists Association and the SOT Computation Toxicology Specialty Section

This webinar will provide the experience of two Arab countries with poison centers (PC): Egypt and Lebanon. Panelists will discuss different aspects of a PC, including call profile data collection, equipment, functions, personnel, research, and resources. The speakers will also explore opportunities for future collaboration between countries; ways to share knowledge; the compilation of a list of experts and poison data across the Arab world; and even the potential establishment of Arab Associations of Poison Control Centers.

Speaker(s):

Nermin Hamdy Mohamed Zawilla, MD
Nermin Hamdy Mohamed Zawilla is an occupational medicine Consultant and Researcher with over 25 years of experience in the field of occupational and environmental medicine and toxicology. Dr Nermin has an MB from Cairo University in 1993, Excellent with Honor. She also received an MS in Industrial Medicine and Occupational Diseases from Cairo University in May 1998. She then received an MD in Industrial Medicine and Occupational Diseases from Cairo University in May 2002. Dr Nermin started as a resident physician in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, faculty of Medicine, at Cairo University in July 2017 until she became a Professor of occupational and environmental medicine. Dr Nermin is the current Manager of the National Center for Clinical and Environmental Toxicology [NECTR] at Cairo University. She is also a Medical Supervisor and a Consultant for the Occupational Diseases, Toxicology, and Sports Medicine Centre, New Kasr Alainy Teaching Hospital.

Naser Zaki Alsharif, PharmD, MS, PhD
Naser Zaki Alsharif is currently a Professor and Dean at the Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon. Dr. Alsharif received a PhD in pharmacology/toxicology from Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, in 1992, an MS in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and a PharmD from UNMC in 1988. His toxicology research is in the area of the toxicity of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, including dioxin, and the role of oxidative stress in the acute and chronic toxicity of these compounds.  He taught clinical toxicology for 27 years. Dr. Alsharif was a member of SOT for several years.

Materials:
ATA Webinar Flyer

Hosted by: SOT Arab Toxicologists Association and the SOT Computation Toxicology Specialty Section

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatic technologies enabled new directions to address research questions that could not be previously considered due to cost/time prohibiting factors and the lack of molecular information. In the field of toxicology, NGS and bioinformatics helped us gain a great deal of insight on chemical-induced proteome-, genome- and transcriptome-wide effects and discover novel biomarkers of toxicant exposure and effects. However, to exploit the full potential of these technologies in toxicological studies, researchers need to learn more about their applications and limitations.

In this webinar, Dr. Mansour and Dr. Abdelmoneim will provide an overview on the different branches of bioinformatics and their applications in toxicological research. They will discuss how to design your first bioinformatic study and points to consider. They will also present a detailed description of how bioinformatics tools were used to analyze datasets associated with a toxicological investigation.

Speaker(s):
Dr. Ahmed Abdelmoneim, BVMS, MSc, PhD, Louisiana State University
Dr. Tamer Mansour, MBChB, MS, PhD, University of California Davis

Materials:
Webinar Recording
Presentation

Materials:
Webinar Recording
Presentation
Photo Gallery

Drug Development is an integrated, multidisciplinary process that includes nonclinical safety assessment, manufacturing, clinical trials, and regulatory submissions. This presentation will provide an introductory overview of drug development and nonclinical safety assessment for drugs and biologics in general and specifically antivirals including COVID-19. Description of some of the challenges that can arise with diseases or conditions with potentially fatal outcomes, and/or for which there are no existing effective treatment options will be discussed. The nonclinical programs for Antivirals like COVID-19/Ebola indications are designed to be flexible, with the goal of facilitating entry into clinical trials and accelerating the development of promising pharmaceutical candidates while also protecting patients from adverse effects. The US FDA lately issued new draft guidance to address challenges related to COVID-19, one to facilitate a sponsor’s preparation of, and the US FDA review of, a pre-investigational new drug application (pre-IND) meeting request, and another with recommendations to develop drugs with direct antiviral activity, immunomodulatory activity, or other mechanisms of action. Case examples will be discussed.

Vaccines are considered to be one of the most cost-effective life-saving interventions in human history. Vaccine development requires preclinical toxicology studies, following good laboratory practice (GLP). Vaccines are developed as biological preparations to stimulate the recipient’s immune system to recognize targeted aspects of infectious organisms as foreign and generate host mechanisms to control or eliminate them. Toxicology studies are performed to support the establishment of nonclinical safety of vaccines prior to their use in clinical investigations. Careful consideration should be given to the collection of precise information from properly designed toxicology studies. Assessment of safety relies on various endpoints including, but are not limited to: measurement of inflammatory cells at the site of injection, changes in food consumption, body weight changes, body temperature changes, clinical chemistry measurements, and histopathology examination.

Speaker(s):

Hanan Ghantous, PhD, DABT
Dr. Ghantous is the Division Director of Pharmacology/Toxicology for Infectious Diseases. She joined the US FDA as a reviewer in 2001 and was the supervisor at the Division of Antiviral Products, CDER, since 2007. Dr. Ghantous has served on several US FDA committees, has been involved in writing Guidance documents, and has represented the Agency at various public forums. She received a PhD in toxicology from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and a postdoctoral training at the University of Arizona. Dr. Ghantous has over 30 years of combined experience in general and regulatory toxicology. She has been a member of SOT since 1989, served on many committees and specialty sections, and was the president of the ABT board for 2013–2014. She has been a member of ACT since 2000, served on many committees and Council over the years, and was the President of ACT in 2016.

Nabil Al-Humadi, PhD
Dr. Al-Humadi is a pharmacologist/toxicologist at the Center of Biologics in the US Food and Drug Administration, where he reviews applications for biological licenses. He received his master’s degree and doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from West Virginia University in 1992 and 2002, respectively. He has more than 30 years combined government and industry experience in toxicology. Dr. Al-Humadi has served on the Neurotoxicity assessment subcommittee [Member since 2014], Pharmacology/Toxicology working group [Co-Chair, 2013-present], and CBER Committee for Promotion of Researchers-Reviewers (2017-present). He presented more than 50 posters in scientific meetings and published more than 12 papers in peer reviewed journals. Dr. Al-Humadi’s recent publication is a review paper in Vaccine journal titled “Pre-Clinical Toxicology Considerations for Vaccine Development.” Also, Dr. Al-Humadi’s current publication is a chapter “pre-clinical toxicology of vaccines” in “comprehensive guide to toxicology in preclinical drug development” book. Currently, Dr. Al-Humadi is writing a second chapter in a book titled “Animal Models for Infectious Diseases”. He has been a full member of the SOT since 1992.

Materials:
AACT ATA Webinar Flyer
Webinar Recording
Presentation

Materials:
Invitation (Arabic) | Invitation (English)
Global Gallery Poster | Presentation
Reception Recording | Photo Gallery