The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Environmental Endocrine Disruptors (EED) continues to be the premier meeting in the field of endocrine disruptor research. The 12th Environmental Endocrine Disruptors Gordon Research Conference (EED-GRC) will be held in Newry, Maine, USA on May 31-June 5, 2020, together with an associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS; May 30-31,2020), which is oriented toward early stage investigators and trainees and provides a forum for networking, career development, and project development/feedback. The scientific discussions, research talks, poster sessions, and informal interactions among the participants of the GRC and GRS will greatly contribute to advancing the understanding of novel molecular mechanisms involved in endocrine disruption of human health. The interactions and collaborations forged here will provide a strong base for future international efforts to understand and mitigate the important public health problem of endocrine disruption. In the opening plenary, the 2020 GRC will take a broad look and environmental health research to orient EED research in the overall landscape, and then turn our full attention to the future by promoting discussion and engagement addressing data gaps and long-term research needs for future regulatory decision making, public health policy, and clinical practice. Under this central mission, the program was specifically designed to feature new science and scientists, highlight interdisciplinary efforts, and engage the full spectrum of stakeholders in the field. A primary goal is to provide an integrated view of how EDCs affect human and ecosystem health by linking observations in wildlife with mechanistic laboratory studies using novel model systems and human clinical and epidemiological studies. Session topics include emerging contaminants, and inter-individual (population level) vulnerability; and of particularly innovative talks on endocrine disruption in marine mammals and field studies of living ecosystems. This GRC EED began in 1998 and remains a unique forum to attract researchers from across the research spectrum who share common interests in the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on wildlife and human health. Every single talk is directly related to the mission of NIEHS. Held biennially and shaped by its participants, it is organized by the GRC, an organization internationally known for the high quality, cutting-edge nature of its meetings. This GRC attracts experts from basic science, clinical medicine, epidemiology, public health, government, NGOs, and industry, perhaps the widest constituency of any GRC.
The 2020 Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Endocrine Disruptors, together with the pre-meeting Gordon Research Seminar, will bring together leaders in the field of endocrine disruption research from a wide variety of scientific disciplines with trainees and junior investigators in an intimate 150 person conference. The scientific presentations, discussions, and workshops during this conference are designed to expand our understanding of the integrative mechanisms by which endocrine disruptors may contribute to disease processes, including transgenerational effects, epigenetic mechanisms, epidemiological studies of human health effects, and risks to wildlife and ecosystems. The collegial and cooperative atmosphere that has always characterized this conference will provide the perfect setting for the intellectual development and collegial discussions to further research and policy goals in this field.
