Program Highlights

The 2010 Program Committee of the Teratology Society, partnering with the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) and the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society (NBTS), has arranged for an outstanding scientific program. The program for the Teratology Society Annual Meeting includes three education courses, seven cutting-edge scientific symposia, one State-of-the-Art lecture, three special lectures, and one lunch box session. There are opportunities for open research communications in our featured platform and poster sessions. The session topics address newer concepts in the field and are likely to generate lively interaction.

Education Courses

The Teratology Education Committee is very pleased to announce that the 2010 education courses will include: 1) a morning course on prenatal drug disposition and teratogenesis which will cover the role of biotransformation in developmental toxicology, stage and species-specific disposition of toxicants during pregnancy, the prenatal ontogeny and capabilities of enzymes involved in biotransformation, and repair capabilities in the embryo; 2) an afternoon course focusing on postnatal drug disposition and teratogenesis. Specific topics that will be covered in this course include the lactational transfer of drugs, postnatal metabolic systems, toxicity profile differences between adults and juveniles, and environmental influences on postnatal drug disposition; and 3) a sunrise mini-course covering imaging tools for structural and functional teratogenesis analysis Separate registration is required for the Education Courses and the Sunrise Mini-Course, so please register early!

Pregnancy Registry Workshop

TS/OTIS will jointly sponsor a Pregnancy Registry Workshop on Saturday, June 26.

Special Lectures

The meeting will kick-off on Sunday morning with the Josef Warkany Lecture which will be given by Diana Juriloff. The Robert L. Brent Lecture, presented by Robert Brent and Donald Frush, will be a Lunch Box Session on Sunday, and be jointly sponsored by OTIS. Drs. Brent and Frush will discuss aspects of “Radiation Exposure to the Embryo and Child” which is sure to whet your appetite! The F. Clarke Fraser Award for a new investigator and the James G. Wilson Publication Award for best paper published in the Teratology Society journal Birth Defects Research, will be presented after lunch on Sunday. On Monday morning a State-of-the-Art Lecture entitled “Palate Development: Molecular Perspectives & Current Understanding” will be presented by Robert Greene. Later on Monday, Lewis B. Holmes will present a Special Lecture on Human Teratogens: The Year in Review. Linda Birnbaum, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, will present a Special Lecture on Tuesday morning.  Our special lectures will conclude on Wednesday with an update on the National Children’s Study/Panel to be delivered by Elaine Faustman. 

Symposia

The scientific program will begin on Sunday afternoon with the March of Dimes Symposium, entitled “Vitamin B₁₂ and Neural Tube Defects: Is it Time to Fortify Food with B₁₂”. This symposium will start with an overview of vitamin B₁₂ and neural tube defects, followed by a talk on B₁₂ and anemia, and then presentations from both sides of the debate over whether foods should be fortified with B₁₂. The session will end with a panel discussion.  

On Monday, in the morning there will be a joint TS/NBTS/OTIS symposium entitled “Reproductive Psychiatry,” chaired by Katherine Wisner and Adrienne Einarson.  This symposium will cover aspects of the neurobehavioral effects of psychiatric drugs and how to use information on such effects in human risk assessments. On Monday afternoon, an “Update on Thalidomide” symposium will be chaired by Lew Holmes.  

On Tuesday morning there will be two cutting edge symposia. The Public Affairs Committee is sure to provoke discussion with their symposium entitled “Herbal Supplement Usage During Pregnancy,” which will cover issues surrounding the safety and efficacy of herbal supplements and preparations for use during pregnancy and for women’s health. The Public Affairs Committee is working on a Teratology Society position paper on this topic, and Rich Miller will start off the symposium with a presentation of the position paper to the Society.  There will be a panel discussion of the position paper and the topic at the end of the symposium.  Also on Tuesday morning, there will be a joint TS/NBTS symposium entitled “Advancing Neurodevelopmental Evaluation in Children: An Interdisciplinary Approach.” This session will include talks on the latest approaches to neurodevelopmental testing of infants and children, pitfalls that threaten the validity of neurodevelopmental studies, and the use of data from such studies in the risk assessment of environmental chemicals.

Wednesday morning will start with the Wiley- Blackwell Symposium organized by the Publication Committee, which will be part history lesson and part cutting edge science. Prominent members of the Teratology Society will take a look back at the Society, its scientists and its science over the past 50 years and then with that perspective discuss the state of the science and the future in the areas of clinical and experimental teratology.

The final symposium of the meeting will be on “21st Century Developmental Toxicology.” New discoveries in developmental biology, bioinformatics, and computational toxicology approaches have brought many opportunities to advance the ways in which we monitor exposures and effects of potential developmental toxicants. This symposium will summarize some of the key advances that have occurred and tackle the tough question of how these new approaches can be used to protect the human population from drug and chemical induced developmental toxicity.

European Teratology Society and Teratology Society Exchange Session

The European Teratology Society (ETS) and the Teratology Society (TS) have set up an Exchange Session again this year. This session will provide an opportunity for interactions and to share perspectives. This year, the topic is “Pros and Cons of the Extended-One-Generation Study Protocol”. The ETS perspective will be presented by Aldert Piersma, while Paul Foster will represent TS. Come and express your opinions.

Special Events

The Joint TS/NBTS Welcome Reception will be held on Sunday evening starting at 6:00 PM. The poster sessions will be held on Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon. All three of these events will take place in the exhibit hall and provide opportunities review and discuss the latest research and make new contacts. On Tuesday afternoon there will be a special session to celebrate the 50th Teratology Society Annual Meeting, including presentations and reminiscences by long-time members of the Society.  You will want to be there for this session! The Warkany Tea is on Wednesday morning, and is an opportunity to socialize with friends and colleagues old and new. The meeting concludes on Wednesday with the Annual Banquet. The banquet provides a relaxed atmosphere to firm-up special relationships with colleagues.