Teratology Society Council Meeting II
Keystone, Colorado
July 3, 1999

The meeting was called to order at 4:30 PM on July 3 1999. In attendance were George Daston, Ken Jones, Tony Scialli, John Rogers, Bob Kavlock, Jan Friedman, Rick Finnell, Tom Knudsen, Tonia Masson and Bob Seegmiller. George Daston presided.

Overview of Keystone meeting (see attached follow-up letter)

A discussion took place about the overall success of this year's meetings. Items mentioned included the nature of the breakfast, NBTS abstracts were missing from the journal. Tom noted that not having a speaker preparation room was a serious deficiency. George responded that a slide preparation room would be available next year at the Breakers. Tom suggested that we should continue to improve the system for electronic submission of abstracts, that presenters would appreciate receiving notification of accepted symposium addresses/abstracts, and that there needs to be a uniform deadline and centralized location for submission of symposium abstracts.

Meeting with Nancy Olsen/Charge to Publication Committee

Points of contention were discussed; Wiley Liss might consider scrapping the current contract and renegotiating a new one. Nancy has several ideas to improve the "look of Journal" and the responsibility for such changes in the journal should be given to Lew Holmes. Ad hoc committee members will be Phil Mirkes and Bern Schwetz and Tom Kwasigroch. Tony suggested sending notes and recommendations of the committee to George before sending them to Nancy Olsen. Tony pointed out that if a new contract is going to be developed, we should budget for legal fees so that an attorney can review the contract prior to our signing it.

Public Affairs Committee

Ken will go over his list of proposed committee members before submitting it to George. Tom expressed concern as to who will set the Public Affairs agenda. He pointed out that the stem cells issue is a topic that we will hear about this coming year. Ken noted that Don Mattison of March of Dimes is very interested in getting together with Teratology Society to draft a statement on post-marketing surveillance. The Teratology Society should continue to try to work with the March of Dimes, with the former providing the scientific expertise and the latter the political.

Activism

There is a need for a greater role of FDA's view on how to look at pre-clinical data. We should send them our comments, letting them know that we are interested in their expertise. There is also a need for establishing a nation-wide pregnancy registry and that the Teratology Society should support it. Tony suggested that we should take a strong stand and submit comments during the two-month waiting period. George suggested that it would be a good idea to consult the Teratology Society membership via a blanket email concerning the issues. The Council agreed that an ad hoc committee should be appointed to help define the issues.

2000 Program

Bob K. said he would support a joint registration fee for OTIS, NBTS and TS. He would also like to see a satellite meeting held following the 3.5 day Teratology Society meeting, i.e., end the meeting early Wednesday, then have a 1.5 day satellite meeting with a 200 room block on Thursday. Rick suggested making the satellite meeting part of the education course. Wiley Liss symposium could be on angiogenesis, and Public Affairs symposium could be on herbal chemicals and pregnancy. Jan suggested making the satellite conference free to society members, and charging a separate fee for non-members. Mike Cunningham has suggested having a workshop on the clinical aspects of cleft palate and other craniofacial disorders. George proposed giving it a try, but to keep it consistent with partnering/liaison attempts. The National Institute of Craniofacial and Dental Research has been established. Tom suggested we should contact program officers at the new institute about becoming active in our Society and participating in the funding of relevant symposia..

NBTS/OTIS meetings in 2000

George said they want to continue meeting with us, and have agreed to do so through 2002 in principle and possibly 2003.

Other Business

Karen Filkins has recommended, with regard to the liaison issue, that we identify a couple of key people in other societies that could be offered a one-year free membership in our society. Jan suggested giving a free membership to individuals outside our society who are invited to give keynote addresses at our meetings. Tony moved that the program committee be permitted to authorize giving to outside speakers a free one-year membership to key people with whom we are interested in partnering, contingent upon membership committee approval. This offer would be in addition to travel expenses and honorarium currently offered to such speakers. Rick seconded the motion, motion carried. Motion restated: The Teratology Society is authorized to pay a one-year membership fee for key people in other societies who we are interested in partnering with, contingent upon membership committee approval.

Interim Council Meeting

This meeting will be held sometime in October or November. Council members will be polled concerning a favorable time to meet. An agenda will be developed and circulated ahead of time.

Motion: Rick moved to adjourn; motion was seconded by Bob K.; meeting adjourned at 5:40 PM.

Dear Fellow Members:

I just wanted to send you a note to let you know that last week's annual meeting was a success scientifically and financially. The scientific program was strong; I've received only positive comments from attendees. My hat is off to all of the organizers and presenters in the symposia, platform and poster sessions and education course.

Importantly, we have fulfilled our contract with the Keystone Resort. We have no future obligations to Keystone. While we don't yet have the final financial figures for the meeting, it appears that we will come out in the black.

For those of you who are interested in the data, we had a comparable number of submitted abstracts and invited presentations as in previous years. We had about 300 registrants, which was less than the past few years.

I am grateful to many, many of you for the success of the meeting. I am grateful to Tony Scialli and the leadership of the Society for pursuing a course of action that was in the best long-term interest of the Teratology Society. I am grateful to our executive staff, Tonia Masson and Clarissa Wilson, who worked tirelessly with Keystone to make the meeting a pleasant and positive experience for the attendees. And most of all I am grateful to all of you who participated in the meeting, for you deserve the lion's share of the credit for its success. I realize that the dates, location, and altitude made it a difficult meeting for many. You came despite these problems and the result was terrific.

For those of you who couldn't make it, we hope to see you next year at the Breakers in Palm Beach. Bob Kavlock is already planning the scientific program, which looks to be even better than this year's. The dates are back to our traditional June 24-29 block and I can promise you plenty of oxygen at sea level.

Best regards,

George Daston, President

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