Planning for Spring Meeting

by Greg Stuart, President-Elect

Hello and Happy New Year 2006! This is an update to my email circulated to the BOD on Dec. 22, 2005 regarding planning for the Spring 2006 Meeting, which is generally held each April. As requested previously, please respond to this post and I will collect and summarize the responses at the next GEMS BOD meeting.

NEXT GEMS BOD MEETING: Tentative dates for the GEMS BOD meeting were Jan. 10 or 11 at CIIT. Who can attend Wed. Jan. 11, 2006? Or should we schedule a date later in the month (e.g., Wed. Jan. 18), allowing time for more feedback from the BOD? My primary concern is selecting a topic for the Spring 2006 meeting. Ideally, I would like the BOD to vote on a Spring Meeting topic at the next BOD meeting, and also select potential meeting dates (any Tues., Wed. or Thurs. in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th weeks of April 2006?) for presentation to the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

---

Non-GEMS Dates-of-Interest:

• Feb.16, 2006: N.C. SOT Meeting, 12:30-5:00 pm at U.S. EPA, RTP
• March 5-9, 2206: SOT
• Mar. 26-28, 2006: IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees) Conference, Boston
• Mar. 26-30, 2006: American Chemical Society
• Mar. 13-16, 2006: Association for Environmental Health & Sciences
• Apr. 01-05, 2006: AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) meeting (Townsend & Miller labs will be attending)
• Apr. 14, 2006: Good Friday

• Apr. 17, 2006: Easter Monday

*** POTENTIAL SPRING 2006 MEETING TOPICS ***

SUGGESTIONS FROM GEMS BOD (Dec. 22, 2005 - Jan. 03, 2006):

• JB: Of the topics listed, I like: Environmental &/or Dietary influences on Disease; Genetic Consequences of Environmental Exposure; Genotoxicity Models. What about focusing on one type of cancer: Breast, colon, prostate, skin??

• CI: My vote would be RNA World (with a different title) or Epigenetics, which sounds like it would include some Environmental & Dietary influences on disease.

• EZ: Given the recent, and ongoing, headlines relating to scientific fraud and the integrity of science and its practitioners, this may be a good time to arrange a conference relating to these topics. There are a number of local people with the appropriate credentials and interests for such a conference.
  

PREVIOUS GEMS MEETING TOPICS:

• Fall 2002 (Oct. 24): "The Science of Bioterrorism."
• Spring 2003 (Apr. 14): "Molecular Epidemiology of Cancer." Speakers: Dr. Peter Inskip (NCI); Dr. Judy Mumford (EPA); Dr. Jennifer Hu (WFUSM); Dr. Robert Millikan (UNC-CH); Dr. Doug Bell (NIEHS); Dr. David Schwartz (Duke University).
• Fall 2003 (Nov. 05): “DNA Damage and Repair.” Speakers: Dr. Michael Resnick (NIEHS); Dr. James A. Swenberg (UNC); Dr. Karin Drotschmann (WFUSM); Dr. Kenneth N. Kreuzer (DUMC). Plus: Student & Post-Doctoral Speakers.
• Spring 2004 (Apr. 22): "RNAi and Silencing of Genes." Speakers: Dr. Caplen (NCI) ?; ...
• Fall 2004 (Nov. 10; 22nd Annual Meeting): "DNA Methylation and its Toxicological Consequences." [Epigenetics] Speakers: Dr. Jay Goodman (Michigan State University); Dr. Trevor Archer (NIEHS) - Did not present?!; Dr. Randy Jirtle (Duke University School of Medicine). Student & Post-Doctoral Speakers: Rebecca Clewell (CIIT); Isaac Snowhite (Wake Forest); William Ward (EPA); Cynthia Innes (NIEHS); Beth Van Emburgh (WFUMC?).
• Spring 2005 (Apr. 12): "Stem Cells: Biology & Toxicological Relevance." Speakers: Dr. Brigid Hogan (Duke University); Dr. Lola Reid (UNC-CH); Dr. Tannistha Reya (Duke University); Dr. James Sherley (MIT); Ms. Carole Tempus (NIEHS); Dr. Julian Preston (EPA). Plus: Student & Post-Doctoral Speakers.
• Fall 2005 (Oct. 26): "Genetics of Aging." Speakers: Dr. Olga Sedelnikova (NCI); Dr. Christopher Corton (EPA). Student & Post-doctoral Speakers: Stephanie Dance; Wade Lehmann; Sharon Oxendine; Ashley Rivenbark; Carol Swartz; Dana Upton.

PAST SUGGESTED MEETING TOPICS: From the GEMS Board Meeting Minutes, December 18, 2003: By vote of the board, the 2004 meeting topics were selected from the following list.

• Mutations in Mitochondrial DNA
• RNAi and Silencing of Genes - DONE
• Imprinting
• Mouse Models of Disease
• Apoptosis
• Developmental Toxicology
• Infectious Disease and Toxic Responses (e.g., Herpes, Papilloma Viruses)
• Mutation Phenotypes and Aging
• Oxidative Stress and Free Radicals
• Biological Basis of Aging - DONE
• Alternative to Animal Testing in Toxicology