Society of Toxicology

Society of Toxicology

Carcinogenesis Specialty Section (CSS)

Winter 2008 Newsletter

Key Dates

Carcinogenesis Specialty Section Reception

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Room 606

SeattleConvention Center

April 30: Proposals for symposia, workshops, roundtables or CE courses due.

2008 SOT SESSIONS SPONSORED BY THE css

Below are sessions and a continuing education course to be presented at the 2008 SOT Annual Meeting endorsed by the Carcinogenesis Specialty Section that should be of particular interest to you.

Sunday, March 16

• Continuing Education Course. PM13 Epidemiology for Toxicologists; 1:15 PM - 5:00 PM

Monday, March 17

• Symposium Session. New Developments in Liver Tumor Biology; Room 6C; 9:30 AM - 12:15 PM
• Symposium Session. Environmental Influence on Female Puberty and Breast Tumorigenesis; Room 6E; 1:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Tuesday, March 18

• Symposium Session. Molecular and Genomic Insights into the Nrf2-Regulated Oxidative Stress Response: Impact on Carcinogenesis; Room 605; 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM
• Symposium Session. New Concepts in the Etiology of Breast Cancer: From Genes to Environment and Back Again; Room 6B; 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM
• Workshop Session. To Dye or Not to Dye: Safety of Oxidative Hair Dyes; Room 608; 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM
• Workshop Session. Host Susceptibility and Chemical Safety Testing: New Approaches to Estimate Risks in the Human Population; Room 608; 1:30 PM - 4:15 PM
• Workshop Session. Molecular Mechanisms and Molecular Biology of Metal Carcinogenesis; Room 6B; 1:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Wednesday, March 19

• Workshop Session. Interdisciplinary Approaches for Improving Chemical Hazard Testing Paradigms; Room 6A; 1:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Thursday, March 20

• Symposium Session. Perinatal Exposure to Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs) Induces Transplacental Genotoxicity and Mitochondrial Toxicity; Room 605; 9:00 AM - 11:45 AM

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF CSS

As we wing our way to Seattle, home of Seattle’s Best coffee, our thoughts should be turning to…. a short latte? Nope. An iced mocha with whipped cream? Nope. Maybe a double espresso? Nope. We should be thinking about symposia and CE courses for next year’s meeting!!

One of the strengths of SOT is its grass roots approach in planning the annual meeting. Symposia and CE courses are not mandated from a select group of individuals but percolate up from the membership. This is the time of year to develop the slate of symposia/CE that will be presented in Baltimore next year. Want to see a symposium in your area of interest? Please E-mail your idea(s) to Charlene McQueen () or bring your proposals to the annual meeting and we can discuss them at the mixer. Most of the officers of CSS have participated or chaired symposia and CE courses, and we would be delighted to work with you to help vet the proposals and find appropriate co-chairs if you need one.

Some new initiatives have been put in place by SOT that impact the specialty sections. A new development is that student representatives serving on the executive committee will now receive a $700 travel reimbursement to attend the annual meeting. Several specialty sections, including ours, have also added postdoctoral fellows to their executive committees. While the same benefit has not yet been extended to postdoctoral representatives, a number of the specialty section presidents were in favor of reimbursing postdoctoral fellow travel, and we will continue to lobby for this benefit at future meetings. A Postdoctoral Assembly has been formed to provide postdoctoral fellows with an opportunity to meet and network with their peers, as well as provide a forum for them to identify concerns that they would like to see addressed. Please encourage your fellows to take advantage of this opportunity.

Many of you have received E-mails regarding the establishment of specialty specific endowment funds. The CSS officers decided not to participate in this funding mechanism this year. We have concerns regarding the impact on federal employees who serve on specialty sections, as once the specialty section becomes a fund raising entity, they could be excluded from participation. We were also concerned that this just added to the work load of our officers, who are all volunteering their time, as well as some discomfort about being put in the position of soliciting funds from our colleagues. We would also like to wait and see how well this works, or doesn’t, for the 10 specialty sections that have decided to establish these funds. This will probably be a topic of discussion at the business meeting and in the future, and the CSS officers would certainly like feedback from the membership regarding their view of the pros or cons of participating.

This will be my last message as the president of CSS, as Barbara Shane will be taking over after the Seattle meeting. I have enjoyed representing all of you as the section president, and would like to thank all the members of the Carcinogenesis Specialty Section who have participated in this year’s activities. We sponsored a great slate of symposia and CE courses (10 total), and the strong efforts of the presenters in putting together these talks are very much appreciated. I am particularly appreciative of the efforts of Dave Eaton and the SOT council members for helping to recruit and put forward the symposium New Concepts in the Etiology of Breast Cancer: From Genes to Environment and Back Again, which has brought in a number of top notch investigators in the area of breast cancer. Michelle Hooth, the outgoing senior councilor, and Ivan Rusyn, who will assume that role this year, worked very hard to solicit and rank the student and postdoctoral abstracts. The proposals were, as usual, quite excellent, and all of the students and postdoctoral fellows deserve a round of applause for the excellent science they will be presenting at the annual meeting (winners to be announced at the mixer on Tuesday evening). Chris Corton continued his excellent work in what is probably the most difficult position, the combined role of secretary/treasurer, and Charlene McQueen and Barbara Shane are currently working diligently to put together another good group of CE courses and symposia for the 2009 meeting in Baltimore. The input of our postdoctoral and student representatives, Janet Zang and Dana Upton, are appreciated. Janet has volunteered to work on the web site and help keep it up to date, a service that is definitely needed by CSS. Special thanks to Merck, who have once again provided a travel award for the best student poster.

At the time that I am writing this message, the election results have not been completely tallied. However, I would like to thank all those who ran for office - Andrew Burdick,Kathleen Dougherty, Barbara Parsons, Martin Ronis, Vernon Walker, and John Wise. The success of our section is the result of the large number of volunteers who have given freely of their time and energy to help make this a vital and important part of the SOT. These are exciting times in cancer biology. I look forward to the challenges of the coming year and working with all of you to continue our efforts to enhance cancer research in toxicology.

Mark Steven Miller

Call for 2008 PROPOSALS FOR SYMPOSIA, WORKSHOPS, ROUNDTABLES OR CE COURSES

It is time to begin planning for the 2009 annual SOT meeting in Baltimore, MD. Program proposals for the 2009 meeting will be due shortly (April 30). If you have suggestions for symposia, workshops, roundtables or CE courses, please contact Charlene McQueen (). Alternatively, bring your suggestions to the Carcinogenesis mixer, where proposed topics for next year’s sessions can be discussed during the business meeting.

THE CARCINOGENESIS SPECIALTY SECTION IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS WHO COULD SERVE ON THE CONTINUINGEDUCATION COMMITTEE

The ContinuingEducation Committee serves as a mechanism for bringing to SOT members timely courses in toxicology. If you would like to serve on this rewarding committee, please indicate your willingness to Chris Corton (), who will be serving as Chair of the CE Committee in 2008-2009.

SOT Urges Members to Volunteer for Study Section Service

Below is the letter from George Corcoran, SOT President regarding service on toxicology study sections.

CRS Requests Nominations of Study Section Reviewers and SOT Urges Toxicologists to Serve

Dear SOT Member,

SOT has been asked by the NIHCenter for Scientific Review to provide nominations of established scientists willing to serve as reviewers on NIH study sections. The availability of a generous pool of toxicologist reviewers is of critical importance, particularly now that the new Systemic Injury by Environmental Exposure (SIEE) Special Emphasis Panel (SEP) has been created. This temporary SEP needs to be populated by toxicologists who are committed to the success of this review body. Your support is essential. We ask that you volunteer, or that you nominate other qualified toxicologists who are willing to provide this essential professional leadership.

NIH requests nominations of those who:

are experienced senior scientists

have received major peer-reviewed grants either from NIH or an equivalent agency

understand the grant award process

are willing to serve for four years as study section members

Email your nominations to . Council will collect nominations and forward them to CSR. CSR will contact those who are selected for further assessment. This service is critical to the future of SOT and its ability to be the premier resource in toxicology.

Finally, please make sure you are aware of the new benefits that CSR has created for Study Section members. These new benefits will make service more attractive than in years past.

Sincerely,

SOT Presidential Chain

George B. Corcoran, President

WINNER OF SOT AWARD IS A CARCINOGENESIS SPECIALTY SECTION MEMBER

Congratulations to Ivan Rusyn for winning the SOT Achievement Award! Ivan serves the section as a councilor.

DO YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING STORY TO TELL YOUR COLLEAGUES? HIGHLIGHT YOUR RECENT BREAKTHROUGH DISCOVERY IN THE NEXT CSS NEWSLETTER

We are looking for a volunteer to provide a short summary of his/her recent paper to highlight in the next newsletter. Students and postdocs can use this as a networking opportunity to describe some of your recent work. Senior investigators can highlight their recent breakthroughs. Send submissions to Chris Corton ().

Encourage Your Students to Join CSS

Advisors, please encourage your students to joint the CSS. Student and postdoc members of SOT are entitled to a free membership in one specialty section. It is a great way to network and to have the opportunity to serve as a Student Officer of the CSS.

Submit Articles and CSS Member News for the CSS Newsletter

Please send Chris Corton articles and member information for inclusion in the CSS newsletters () or by phone (919-541-0092). Your continued support and contributions will ensure that this remains an outstanding specialty section.

2007-2008 CSS Officers

President – Mark Miller

Vice-President – Barbara Shane

Vice-President Elect – Charlene McQueen

Secretary/Treasurer – Chris Corton

Councilors – Ivan Rusyn, Michelle Hooth, Mike Cunningham (Past President)

Postdoctoral Fellow Officer – Janet Zang

Student Officer – Stephanie Dance-Barnes