Special Sessions

Plenary Opening Lecture: Discovery of Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP Cell Signaling and Their Role in Drug Development

Monday Morning, March 8, Time: 8:00 AM–9:00 AM
Exhibit Hall E

Lecturer: Nobel Laureate Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., John S. Dunn, Sr., Distinguished Chair, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX

In Vitro Toxicology Lecture and Luncheon for Students: Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: The Vision and Some Questions

Monday, March 8, Time: 12:00 NOON–1:20 PM
Room 255 E

(Ticket Required)

Lecturer: Kim Boekelheide, M.D., Ph.D., Brown University, Providence, RI

Sponsor: Colgate-Palmolive Company

The purpose of this lecture is to discuss the importance of animal research to biomedical sciences and toxicology and the ethical obligations of the scientific community to follow the "3R’s" of animal testing (refine, reduce, replace) whenever it is feasible.

Graduate students, undergraduates, postdoctoral scholars, and recipients of Colgate-Palmolive awards are among the guests at the In Vitro Toxicology Lecture and Luncheon. The goal of the In Vitro Toxicology Lecture series is to feature important research using in vitro and alternative techniques to study basic mechanisms and to illustrate how these test methods benefit animal welfare by refining and reducing animal use. Students and postdocs can reserve a ticket for the luncheon with a $5 deposit when they register for the SOT Annual Meeting. Lunch is served at the beginning of the event and service concludes before the talk/main program begins. Meal service may not be available to guests who arrive after 12:30 PM.

Leading Edge in Basic Science Award Lecture: Toxicogenomics at NIEHS: How Genomics is Impacting the Science of Toxicology

Monday, March 8, Time: 12:30 PM–1:20 PM
Room 251 A

Lecturer: Richard S. Paules, Ph.D., National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, NC

SOT/EUROTOX Debate

Monday, March 8, Time: 4:35 PM–5:55 PM
Ballroom A

Motion: Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC): Is It Based on Science or Politics?

Endorsed by:
Society of Toxicology (SOT)
European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX)

Each year the SOT Annual Meeting includes a debate that continues a tradition that originated in the early 1990s in which leading toxicologists advocate opposing sides of an issue of great toxicological importance.  This year, our debaters will address the proposition: Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC):  Is It Based on Science or Politics?

Regardless of framework differences and personal convictions, each scientific delegate will present relevant evidence and compelling scientific arguments to persuade and appeal to the response of the audience in order to obtain the approval or refusal of the motion. In addition to being a featured session at the Annual Meeting, this debate will again take place in Barcelona during the 2010 XII International Congress of Toxicology, July 19–23, 2010.

Translational Impact Award Lecture: Translating Mechanism-Based Research into Antidotes: Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs

Tuesday, March 9, Time: 8:00 AM–8:50 AM
Room 251 A

Lecturer: Kenneth E. McMartin, Ph.D., Louisiana State University Health Science Center, Shreveport, Louisiana

NIH Resource Room

Tuesday, March 9, Time: 9:30 AM–4:30 PM
Room 254 A

Chairperson: Joel G. Pounds, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

Sponsored by: Research Funding Committee

NIH program and review staff of the Center for Scientific Review and NIEHS will be available in the NIH Grants Room for individual conversations. Attend the NIH Brown Bag Lunch on Tuesday to make an appointment or check the posted schedule to meet with the NIH staff member who can discuss with you aspects of scientific review or specific grant opportunities. New investigators are especially encouraged to meet with program staff. Handouts will be available.

NIH Brown Bag Lunch

Tuesday, March 9, Time: 12:00 NOON–1:15 PM
Room 255 B

Chairperson: Joel G. Pounds, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

Sponsored by: Research Funding Committee

Join staff from the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) and the NIEHS program officers for lunch and informal discussions about review and grant opportunities at NIEHS. There will be time for questions and discussion, and you can make arrangements to meet these representatives later in the NIH Grants Room. Bag lunches will be available for the first 75 participants.

Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award Lecture: Toxic Injury: Initiation, Expansion, and Repair

Tuesday, March 9, Time: 12:30 PM–1:20 PM
Room 251 A

Lecturer: Harihara M. Mehendale, Ph.D., DABT, ATS, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana

Keynote Medical Research Council (MRC) Lecture: The Interplay between Phosphorylation and Ubiquitination in Regulating the Innate Immune System

Wednesday, March 10, Time: 8:00 AM–9:00 AM
Ballroom A

Lecturer: Sir Philip Cohen, Ph.D., Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit, University of Dundee, The Sir James Black Centre, Dundee, United Kingdom

NIH Resource Room

Wednesday, March 10, Time: 9:00 AM–4:30 PM
Room 254 A

Chairperson: Joel G. Pounds, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

Sponsored by: Research Funding Committee

NIH program and review staff of the Center for Scientific Review and NIEHS will be available in the NIH Grants Room for individual conversations. Attend the NIH Brown Bag Lunch on Tuesday to make an appointment or check the posted schedule to meet with the NIH staff member who can discuss with you aspects of scientific review or specific grant opportunities. New investigators are especially encouraged to meet with program staff. Handouts will be available.

Merit Award Lecture: Living with Passion—Opening Doors in Research, Teaching, and Service

Wednesday, March 10, Time: 12:30 PM–1:20 PM
Room 251 A

Lecturer: Marion Ehrich, Ph.D., DABT, ATS, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Blacksburg, VA

Meet the Director Series

Wednesday, March 10, Time: 1:15 PM–4:45 PM
Room 251 D

This series of lectures now includes three separate platforms that devote one hour to leaders of major federal agencies that allow them to engage in a panel discussion of emerging trends in toxicology research and its funding. These sessions will be a particularly valuable opportunity to update attendees on the new initiatives that may impact the practice of toxicology in the near and long term.  

1:15 PM–2:15 PM—A Conversation with the EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Director: Hal Zenick

2:30 PM–3:30 PM—A Conversation with the NIEHS Director: Linda Birnbaum

3:45 PM–4:45 PM—A Conversation with U.S. FDA/NCTR Director: William Slikker

Issues Sessions: National Academy of Sciences Vision for Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century

Thursday, March 11, Time: 7:30 AM–8:50 AM
Ballroom I

Chairperson: Jon C. Cook

This Issues Session will continue the dialog begun at the highly successful 2008 NRC session in which the Annual Meeting participants were provided an overview of the three National Academy reports addressing key issues impacting the Society and the profession of toxicology. These reports included Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and Strategy, Application of Toxicogenomics Technologies to Predictive Toxicology and Risk Assessment, and Models in Environmental Regulatory Decision Making. For the past two years, Toxicological Sciences has published a Forum Series on the Vision for Toxicology Testing in the 21st Century. This is the third year we have had an Issues Session at the Annual Meeting dedicated to this discussion.