Teratology Society
Members' Section
|
Teratology Society Members' Section |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teratology Society Newsletter Volume
11, Number 3 Table of Contents
So what has your President being doing with his time? One event I was most pleased to have participated in on behalf of TS was a December workshop in Bethesda sponsored by the CDC, FDA and a plethora of other organizations, on how to develop better procedures for post-marketing surveillance for developmental risks of pharmaceuticals. I was asked, as President of the Teratology Society, to give the closing remarks to this conference. Having worked in a federal environmental protection agency, where we are often challenged to demonstrate that our regulations have real public health impact, I was actually jealous of the potential for such determinations in the pharmaceutical arena, where it is not implausible to think of monitoring pregnancy outcomes following cautious usage of prescription medications. Just think of how powerful this endeavor could become in identifying agents that slipped though our safety net of animal testing, but also which appear to demonstrate no additional risk following exposure (and to say that with some degree of confidence based upon observations of real world exposures). Given the enthusiasm of the participants for developing a better process than currently exists, I am optimistic that a relatively formal method of monitoring of drug use in pregnancy and pregnancy outcome may actually come to pass. As a side note to the workshop, a fellow North Carolinian who was attending observed the role of OTIS in the process and, after wondering why our state did not have such a unit, is now attempting to organize a NC OTIS unit. Other than that activity, the President's next important task was (and still is) fund raising. This year, Council voted to modify our Sustaining Membership category to include three levels (Platinum, Gold and Silver) based upon the amount of the annual donation to the Society. Sustaining members are absolutely critical to the life of the Teratology Society, because they represent a stable source of income that helps tremendously to offset the cost of holding the annual meeting. This year Council endorsed the decision to considerably reduce the registration fees to the Montreal meeting. This reduction was consistent with our strategic goal of making the Annual Meeting more affordable to a greater number of scientists and trainees, and I hope that our decisions will be endorsed by a strong attendance in Montreal. The Sustaining Members play a key role in helping keep the meeting costs down, and I hope that we will have more and more such members, contributing at the higher end of the spectrum, that will allow us to keep costs down as we proceed with our 2002 and 2003 meetings. I have sent letters to many of you asking to start or renew a corporate membership or to sponsor a special meeting event, and for those who have not yet responded, I will be calling soon, so please be ready to make a contribution at the highest level you can support. We on Council are constantly seeking new ways to make our point and to carry on our mission. This year, for the first time, we will be establishing Teratology Society booths at two national meetings. Our first foray into this field will be at the SOT meeting in San Francisco - if you would be willing to volunteer a few hours to 'person' the booth, please let me or Secretary George Dearlove (who deserves all the credit for this initiative) know. Unfortunately, one item that we are not making fast progress on is the negotiations with Wiley on new contract for our journal. Meanwhile on the journal front, George Daston, who has lead on this issue, continues to make slow, but steady progress in the negotiations, and we are optimistic that we will have something tangible to report on by the next Newsletter. Other tidbits that may be of interest is the complete re-vamping of our Web site (which now has our position statements, Teratogen Updates, Societal Awards, and a variety of other resource information available for quick access), thanks to Bob Veneziale and the Web Committee, the initiation of the option of electronic dues payment, the issuance of Society statements on Accutane and the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (check them out on the web site) thanks to Ken Jones and the Public Affairs Committee, Bob Brent serving as a representative of teratology to a Carnegie Grant sponsored effort by the AAAS to develop criteria to select court appointed experts in different fields, improvements in our investment strategy by Treasurer John Rogers, Tom Knudsen and John DeSesso continue to represent us on the FASEB consensus funding priority committees and finally, there is the development of the program for the Montreal meeting - but I will let the VP brag about that later in this issue. I firmly
believe that the Teratology Society is turning the corner and that with
your active participation, we will become the multi-faceted and responsive
organization that we know we need to be. Having a diverse and proficient
workforce is part of that plan. Let's
keep doing it!
Submitted by Jan Friedman It is time to make your arrangements to attend the Teratology Society Annual Meeting in MontrĜal. We received 17% more abstract submissions than last year, and the Program Committee is hard at work selecting the best for presentation. The abstracts cover many different aspects of our field, but clinical teratology, epidemiology, hazard and risk evaluation, and mechanisms of abnormal development are especially well represented. Contributed papers will be presented in the Student Plenary Session, five other platform sessions, and two poster sessions. The meeting will begin with our Continuing Education Course, which is entitled "Principles of Teratology: Application of New Technologies Towards Understanding Abnormal Development". Course speakers will include Jim Schardein, Tom Knudsen, Simon Ward, Phil Mirkes, Bruce Carlson, John Rogers, Peter Wells, Elaine Faustman and Bill Scott. We are pleased that the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society and the Organization of Teratology Information Services will be meeting with us and that the Second International Conference on Male-Mediated Developmental Toxicity is meeting in MontrĜal just before we do. Our program will take advantage of all of these activities - The March of Dimes Symposium will focus on scientific advances in male-mediated developmental toxicity, and we shall have joint symposia with the NBTS on genetic pathways of neurodevelopment and with OTIS on teratogenic effects of obstetrical procedures. The Wiley-Liss Symposium will be on pluripotent stem cells in and out of the embryo. There will be special workshops entitled "Teratogen Update," "Redox Regulation in Mechanisms of Teratogenesis" and "Foodborne Infections During Pregnancy." The meeting will also feature a Genome Symposium ("Using Genomics to Study Birth Defects") and a Public Affairs Symposium ("Report Card on FDA's Efforts to Prevent Teratogenic Birth Defects"). Phil Mirkes will present the Warkany Lecture, "To die, or not to die: that is the question." The full programme is available on our Web site at http://teratology.org/meetings/2001/prog2001.htm. MontrĜal is famous for the quality and variety of its cuisine, and most evenings during our meeting will be free so that you can go to one of the outstanding restaurants for dinner. Be sure to save Wednesday evening for the Banquet, and don't forget the President's Reception on Sunday. The meeting schedule has been adjusted so that you will also have time for breakfast in a nearby cafĜ and lunch in a local deli or bistro. Information about registering for the meeting is available on our Web site at http://teratology.org/meetings/. The registration fee has been reduced by almost 25% for members and 50% for students and trainees this year, but you must register before 15 May to receive the greatest savings. Le Centre Sheraton Hotel is a five-star hotel in the heart of MontrĜal. The Teratology Society has reserved a limited number of rooms at discounted rates for meeting attendees. Arrangements for accommodations must be made through the hotel at (800) 325-3535 no later than May 15, 2001. For more information, please check our Web site at http://teratology.org/meetings/2001/montreal2001.htm#Accommodations. You may want to come a few days early or stay a few days after the meeting to explore Vieux MontrĜal, enjoy the MontrĜal International Jazz Festival, or tour the Laurentian Mountains or Quebec City. Visitors from outside Canada will benefit from favourable currency exchange rates and a tax refund on purchases. To find out more about what else will be going on in MontrĜal and Quebec in June, see http://www.tourism-montreal.org/. Make your arrangements now to attend the 2001 Teratology Society Meeting in MontrĜal!
The electronic calendars that many of us now use make it easy to reserve special dates far in the future. You may want to make a note of the dates of the Teratology Society Annual Meetings in 2002 and 2003. Our 42nd Annual Meeting will be held on June 22-27, 2002, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, near Phoenix, Arizona. The site offers all of the amenities of a world-class resort, including outstanding facilities for tennis, golf, and swimming, but lies within one of America's most rapidly growing metropolitan areas. The 43rd Annual Meeting will take place on June 21-26, 2003, at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. This is a spectacular new hotel built in a charming art deco building across the street from Reading Terminal Market and within minutes of the Liberty Bell Pavilion, the Franklin Institute, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and numerous restaurants and theatres. Save the dates now. These will be great meetings!
Submitted by Kok-Wah Hew Planning for the 2001 Continuing Education Course is going well. This year, Eli Lilly and Company has graciously agreed to donate $1,000 and labor to produce the course notebook. This donation allows the Society to keep the cost of attending the course relatively low. The Education Committee would like to thank Eli Lilly and Company for their generosity.
Submitted by Jerry Meyer The Neurobehavioral Teratology Society (NBTS) is comprised of a group of academic, industrial, and governmental researchers interested in the effects of drugs, chemicals, and other insults on neural and behavioral development. Many of our members also belong to the Teratology Society (TS), and this summer we will be meeting jointly with the Teratology Society as has usually been the case in previous years. NBTS and TS sponsor a joint symposium that is open to registered members of both societies. This year's joint TS/NBTS Symposium will be held on the morning of Tuesday, June 26th, and is entitled "Old Birth Defects and New Insights into Brain Development." The program is as follows: SKUSE, D.H., S. THOMAS, J. KUNTSI, K. ELGAR, and P.A. JACOBS. Behavioral Sciences Unit, London, U.K. and Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Salisbury, United Kingdom. Neurobehavioral consequences of X-chromosome deletions: implications for autism. DENNIS, M. Department of Psychology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The cognitive phenotype in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. MARIA, B.L. Department of Pediatrics, Neurology and Neuroscience, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida. On the relation between hindbrain maldevelopment, clinical features, and neurobehavior in Joubert syndrome and Dandy-Walker syndrome. BASSETT, A.S. Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Psychiatric illnesses in adults with 22q deletion syndrome. Other symposia at the NBTS meeting will include "Neurodevelopmental Models of Mental Illness," organized by Sonya Sobrian and Emmiline Edwards; "Towards a Functional Neurobiology of Teratogenic Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Strategies Using Animal Models," jointly sponsored by NBTS and the Research Society for Alcoholism and organized by Charlie Goodlett and Mark Stanton; and "Exposure to Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupters During Development: Effects on Brain and Behavior" organized by Sherry Ferguson and Katherine Flynn. Non-members of NBTS are welcome to attend these sessions either by registering for the entire NBTS meeting or by paying a 1-day registration fee if you wish to attend only the session(s) held on a specific day. For more information on NBTS including the full meeting program, membership roster, and details on how to join, please visit our Web site at http://nbts.bsbe.umn.edu/. See you in Montreal!
Submitted by Robert Felix The Organization
of Teratology Information Services (OTIS) will once again have their annual
meeting with the Teratology Society in Montreal. The 14th Annual OTIS
meeting begins on Saturday, June 23 to Tuesday, June 26. Saturday morning
will be presentations of OTIS Abstracts submitted from various Teratogen
Information Services. Sunday morning OTIS will host speakers from the
Centers for Disease Control and the California Birth Defect Monitoring
Program. Following that morning session will be the Teratology March of
Dimes Symposium on Male-mediated Developmental Toxicity. On Monday morning,
the Research Committee of OTIS will sponsor a session on "Neurobehavioral
Effects of Environmental Exposures". And finally on Tuesday, OTIS will
begin the morning with a joint Teratology/OTIS symposium, "Teratology
of Obstetrical Procedures" and end the day with Teratology/OTIS Platform
session.
MontrĜal, Canada, June 20-23, 2001 Submitted by Barbara Hales The goals of the Second International Meeting on Male-Mediated Developmental Toxicity are to identify new developments and directions in the field over the past decade, as well as the challenges for the years ahead. The scientific program will feature leaders in the fields of reproductive toxicology, teratology, epidemiology, cancer, development, environmental toxicology, and occupational health. The conference will include State of the Art Lectures, Symposia, Poster Sessions and Workshops. The most recent developments will be presented on a range of topics including: parental legacies and genomics; lifestyle, occupational and therapeutic paternal exposures and effects; effects on the gamete-packaging of human sperm; effects on fertilization and the embryo; role of DNA repair and germ cell apoptosis; stem cells, epigenetics and cloning; markers of sperm quality and relationship to progeny; model systems; implications to clinicians and genetic counselors; and impact on reproductive technology and legislation. The venue is MontrĜal, a fascinating cosmopolitan city with a unique French and English heritage and the charm of European traditions. The meeting will take place in June, a time when many cultural activities take place in the city and the weather is typically beautiful. For more
information, to be included in our mailing list and to receive announcements,
please visit our web site http://www.medserv.mcgill.ca/malemediated2001.
Contact: Dr. Barbara Hales, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics,
McGill University, Phone: (514)-398-3610, Fax: (514)-398-7120, E-mail:
bhales@pharma.mcgill.ca
Submitted by John M. Rogers I would like to report to you on FY2000 year-end financials, our current investments, and on the approved FY2001 budget. Overall, our financial status is continuing to improve in both the stability of our expenses and in the strength of our revenues and investments. Although we have a way to go before we reach our financial goals, steady progress is evident. FY2000 brought a successful Annual Meeting with unprecedented levels of contributions from both new and familiar supporters, and in the end made about $30,000. This is so important, as the Annual Meeting is our primary income source. A new revenue source associated with the Annual Meeting is a commission to the Society based on the number of room nights occupied during the meeting. SOT has done this for a while now, and it really helps. For the 2000 AM, this commission was about $13,000. We have pledged to use this money to reduce the registration fee for the subsequent Annual Meeting, and we have done this for the 2001 meeting in Montreal. The bottom line on the FY 2000 budget was a net of approximately $90,000 in income over expenses. We were also able to invest an additional $25,000 in a new CD with Legg-Mason, bringing our CD investments to over $165,000. While this is encouraging, I would like to see this number triple over the next five years or so, which would give us the level of long-term financial comfort and flexibility that we need. We can get there if we continue to work on and improve our efficiency and our fund-raising. The news for FY 2001 so far is good. We have a great meeting planned with a great budget, and a very reasonable registration fee. Let's work for a good turnout, and remember to register early so that the Society will get the full benefit of the room night count. Here is the approved Teratology Society Budget for FY2001. Most of the category names are descriptive enough, but anyone who has any questions about the budget should e-mail them to me (rogers.john@epa.gov). An exciting new item in the budget is money for a display booth that we will develop and exhibit at SOT and at least one other major meeting this year. It is important that we maintain current membership and seek new members wherever possible, and we think this exhibit will both educate people about our Society and attract new members.
Teratology Society 2001 Ballot Submitted by Christina Chambers The TS Nominations and Elections Committee has developed a fine list of candidates for the upcoming election of officers. The nominees are as follows:
The Committee members would like to thank each candidate for accepting the challenge to run for office and for their willingness to contribute to the future of the Society. Current Teratology Society members can expect to receive the printed ballot including candidates' statements later this month with a June deadline for returning your votes. Remember that petitions for additional nominations, signed by at least 5% of members, can be accepted through April 23, 2001. I would also like to thank each Committee member for volunteering to work on this Committee and for their contribution to making this a successful election. Christina Chambers, MPH
The Teratology Society Web Site has been completely redesigned and improved! The look and feel of the site is more professional and the menu system is easier to use and navigate. The fresh new look and design of the site was done by Robert Vinson from McGill University. Please join me in extending our appreciation to him for a job well done! Your comments and suggestions for further improvements to the site are always welcome (send one now, just CLICK HERE). Another new feature of the web site is on-line dues payments. This project also required considerable effort and was accomplished by our webmaster, Mr. Bill Landau, with the help of Tonia Masson. Members are highly encouraged to pay their dues on-line because it helps contain the Society's administrative resources and costs. The Web Site Committee has also been busy
adding and updating content on the site. This includes the Annual Meeting
information, newsletters, links, book of the month, etc. In addition to
these standard features of the site, a comprehensive list of the Society's
awards
and recipients was compiled by Ron Hood
and is now available on-line. There are still some gaps in this list from
previous years, and you are encouraged to forward any information that
will help complete this list (see email below). We are constantly looking
for new information to post - photos, links, suggested books, etc. Please
send any items to be considered for posting on the site to webmaster@teratology.org.
Submitted by Robert Clark The spring meeting of the Middle Atlantic
Reproduction and Teratology Association (MARTA), tentatively set for May
3, will be held at Bayer in West Haven, CT. MARTA president and meeting
host, George Clemens, plans that the program will include a training session
on giving presentations on teratology and birth defects prevention at
schools as well as health and medical departments. MARTA has a long and
distinguished history as a society for the exchange of information concerning
reproduction and teratology (in the past 34 years, MARTA has sponsored
approximately 97 meetings) and this community involvement theme is an
outgrowth of this interest. More information about MARTA can be seen within
the Teratology Society Web site (go to http://www.teratology.org/members/MARTAtext.htm).
Submitted by Michael Cunningham Although the American Cleft Palate/Craniofacial
Association is alive and well, it has been difficult to get things off
the ground in terms of planning for a joint meeting of the Teratology
Society and ACPA. Over the past four years, several organizational meetings
have occurred considering everything from invited speakers, to panels,
to shared sessions, to overlapping meetings. Although both parties (ACPA
and Teratology) seem interested, no forward progress has been made as
of this writing. I will be attending this year's ACPA meeting in Minneapolis
this April and will once again raise the idea of increased interactions
between our societies. I am on the scientific program committee for the
2002 meeting in Seattle (April 30th - May 5th at the Seattle Sheraton
Center) and will again attempt to get the ball rolling. If the Teratology
Society members who are interested in craniofacial disorders would like
to submit abstracts to the 2002 ACPA meeting, this might provide a sufficient
number of abstracts to have a small specialty session...or maybe even
a panel. Any members interested in perusing this avenue should contact
me at mcunning@u.washington.edu.
Submitted by Robert Brent There has been continued interest in the impact of environmental reproductive toxicants, including radiation, on the male and female reproductive capacity. Although the interest has been long-standing, society's interest in environmental toxicity, radiation effects, improved work safety and the proliferation of new chemicals has more recently focused on this area. There has been a long-standing polarization of feelings among scientists with regard to the risk of preconception exposure to reproductive toxicants [Brent, 1972] (Table 1). A more recent issue has been the allegation that servicemen exposed to multiple agents in Iraq during Desert Storm have fathered an increased number of children with birth defects following there return to the United States (Brent 1996). What can we say with certainty about the impact of preconception exposures on the reproductive capacity of exposed human populations?
The Teratology Society has not addressed this topic fully at our annual meeting, although this year (2001), there is a meeting dealing with the subject of male mediated reproductive toxicity just preceding the annual Teratology Society meeting. There are conflicting opinions about the magnitude of the problem of human male mediated reproductive toxicity of environmental agents. It is important that this subject be debated at the Teratology Society meeting in order to give all those interested an opportunity to share their viewpoints and to provide accurate risk estimates to counselors who have to provide information to parents who have experienced potentially toxic exposures to environmental agents. Robert L. Brent
References Brent, R.L.: Protecting the public from teratogenic and mutagenic hazards. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 12:61-70, 1972 Brent, R.L.: Biological factors related to male mediated reproductive and developmental toxicity. In: Olshan, A.F. and Mattison, D.R. (Eds). Male-Mediated Developmental Toxicity. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 209-242, 1994 Brent, R.L. and Beckman, D.A. Desert storm sequelae: Are gulf war veterans fathering an increased incidence of children with congenital malformations? Pediatric Research 39(4), Part A, 472A, 1996. Brent, R.L.: Utilization of developmental basic science principles in the evaluation of reproductive risks from pre- and postconception environmental radiation exposures. Paper presented at the Thirty-Third Annual Meeting of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. The Effects of Pre- and Postconception Exposure to Radiation, April 2-3, 1997, Arlington, Virginia. Teratology 59:182-204, 1999. Controversy Concerning
the Magnitude of the Genetic Risk "The threat of genetic damage is our number one health problem." (Legator 1968) "There is no realistic way to predict a safe human level of a substance shown to be teratogenic, carcinogenic or mutagenic in animals." (Epstein 1971) "Chemical mutagenesis is certainly a very small problem as we see it at present. We view it as 1% of the very broad problem of human genetics. We do not propose setting up whatever Dr. Crow means by a monitoring system." (Shannon 1968) "If the public flatly refuses to take decisive action on the basis of the massive volumes of data linking cigarette smoking to lung cancer, how can you expect people to act vigorously on the more hazy and abstruse things like a chemical that may or may not be mutagenic in man."(Crow 1969) "I think it is absolutely essential that we do not delude ourselves about the magnitude and complexity of our task. The general public is easily scared and when they are scared, they may form pressure groups to push governmental agencies into action. These agencies are scientifically naive and have to rely on our advice. We should be very careful not to give advice that is itself naive; that is advice based on oversimplified tests and facile interpretations." (Auerbach 1971) "The world is full of mutagens, carcinogens and reproductive toxins, and it always has been. The important issue is the human exposure dose. Fortunately the exposure is usually minuscule".(Ames 1989) "Nature's toxic chemicals are the major carcinogens and mutagens ingested by humans. These natural chemicals in plants are present at a level 10,000 times the prevalence of man-made pesticide residues. There is a tendency for laymen to think of chemicals as being only man-made and to characterize them as toxic". (Ames 1989). "It would be foolish to advise anything other than extreme caution over the exposure of fathers to chemical mutagens when our understanding of the quantitative risks to future generations is so rudimentary." (Brown 1985) Biologic Filtration:
Loss of genetic effects of exposure 1) Affected germ cells may be lost during gametogenesis. 2) The mature egg or sperm may have a decreased capacity to be fertilized or to fertilize. 3) The embryos resulting from these affected eggs and sperm may result in embryonic loss during preimplantation or early organogenesis. In most cases the women may not know that they were pregnant. 4) If there is a lapse in time between the exposure to reproductive toxicants and insemination and fertilization, some of the affected gonadocytes may be lost (bridge formation, lethal mutations). 5) In many instances the mutagenic exposure to the human populations may be so low that the calculated risks would not result in a change in the incidence of genetic disease because the sample size is too small 6) Most point mutations result in recessive genetic diseases.
The Teratology Society is pleased to welcome the following individuals that were approved for membership in the year 2000. Regular Members
Associate Members
Emeritus Member
Student Members
The Teratology Society appreciates the support of the following members who have graciously volunteered their time to staff the booth and provide information about the Society to potential new members at the upcoming SOT meeting in San Francisco, California.
If you will be attending the SOT meeting and are interested in representing the Teratology Society, your assistance is welcome. The SocietyĦs booth is 1803, feel free to stop by and greet potential new members. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
İ
Copyright Teratology Society 1998-2000, 2001.
Please read our disclaimer.
