Society of Toxicology brings more than 5,500 to Seattle

With more than 5,500 participants, the Society of Toxicology expects its national annual meeting in Seattle next week to be its largest ever, reflecting significant growth in the field.

The organization will meet from Sunday, March 1, through Thursday, March 5, at the Washington State Convention Center. Many UW faculty members will be presenters and participants at the meeting.

Dr. David Eaton, UW professor of environmental health in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, is the organization's secretary and a member of its governing council. "Classically, toxicology is known as the 'science of poisons,'" Eaton said. "In the modern world, we see it as the science of how chemicals of all kinds — both human-made and natural — affect human health and the environment."

The Society of Toxicology includes a wide range of scientists and public policy-makers—from molecular biologists studying how chemicals are related to a disease process at the cellular/molecular level to regulatory officials charged with developing legal limits for air or water pollutants. The field has grown considerably in recent years with increasing interest in health and environmental threats from pollution and efforts to refine the scientific evidence needed for decisions on controls.

The first day of the meeting will be devoted to continuing education courses, with registration separate from the main annual meeting. The scientific sessions will open with a plenary lecture at 8:30 a.m. Monday and continue through Thursday. The plenary lecture will be given by Judge Alex Kozinski, U.S. circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit, speaking on "The Toyota Principle, or Tort Bingo USA." Judge Kozinski was a key player in the Daubert Vs. Merrell Dow "Bendectin" case that has greatly influenced how scientific information can be used in the courtroom.

At noon on Monday, Dr. Leroy Hood, Gates professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the UW, will present the Medical Research Council Lecture, "Genes and Genomes: Deciphering the Periodic Table of Life."

Symposia are scheduled each day, along with platform sessions, workshops, poster discussion sessions and poster presentations. The program, along with more information on the organization, is available on the Society of Toxicology website at http://www.toxicology.org.

Eaton noted that UW faculty and staff might be interested in a special, one-day registration fee for non-members of the group from the Seattle area. The fee will be $115, collected on site, with no pre-registration required. The on-site registration fee for all four days of the scientific meeting is $380.

He also mentioned an unusual presentation planned on Thursday afternoon, March 5, on "The Epidemiology of Breast Cancer: Unraveling the Roles of Genetics, Lifestyle and Environmental Factors." It will feature several faculty members from the UW and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who are internationally recognized experts on breast cancer etiology.

On Tuesday, March 3, the Society of Toxicology, in cooperation with the UW Department of Environmental Health, is running an all-day program at the meeting for K-12 teachers in the area. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is also a sponsor of the K-12 program.

For more information on the meeting, see the website listed above or contact Eaton at 685-3785. ¶

Claire Dietz