The Teratology Society will hold its 55th Annual Meeting at Hilton Montreal Bonaventure in Montreal, QC, Canada on June 27 ? July 1, 2015. The scientific program covers a wide-range of current issues in reproductive and developmental health and disease. Symposia will explore mechanisms underlying adverse developmental outcomes including, epigenetic changes and interactions between exposure and genetic predisposition; the role of the microbiome in normal development; postnatal development including mechanisms of puberty initiation; etiology of cerebral palsy; and guiding principles for analysis of neurobehavioral data; and effects of assisted reproductive technologies on infant health outcomes. The meeting attendees historically come from a diverse professional background including basic and clinical scientists from the academic, industrial, and government research sectors. The Teratology Society has a long track record of combining basic, clinical and epidemiologic research, to understand the mechanisms of birth defects, improve reproductive health, and translate these discoveries into clinical practice. The Annual Meeting is unique in its diverse mix of research and clinical professionals from academic, industrial, and regulatory sectors, who meet annually to make scientific advances in these important public health areas. The 2015 Program Committee of the Teratology Society, with input from the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) and Neurobehavioral Teratology Society (NBTS), is finalizing an outstanding and expansive scientific program that includes education courses, scientific symposia, special lectures, and an exchange session, as well as opportunities for open research communications as platform and poster presentations. The Annual Meeting provides a forum for attendees to network, exchange ideas and information, and engage in discussions among established experts in the field, new researchers, and students. It is also an opportunity to promote and express our scientific diversity as a Society of fellow clinicians, scientists and science policy regulators from academic, industrial, and government sectors. This diversity allows the Teratology Society to promote translational research in approaching problems from basic science to clinical outcomes by bringing together these scientists and clinicians in its unique annual meeting programs. In this proposal, we are requesting funds to defray the speaker and session expenses for 2015?2019 Teratology Society Annual Meetings.
For fifty-four years, the Teratology Society has recognized the ability of drugs and chemicals to induce birth defects and has promoted basic and clinical research to understand the mechanisms of birth defects, improve reproductive health, and translate these discoveries into clinical practice. The Annual Meeting provides a forum for scientists, clinicians, and science policy regulators from academic, industrial. and government sectors to present cutting-edge research, exchange ideas and information, and engage in discussions among established experts in the field, new researchers, and students. The goals of the Teratology Society align with the goals of US FDA in promoting the safety of drugs and the food supply with respect to reproduction and embryo-fetal and postnatal development, as evidenced by the theme of the 2015 Annual Meeting, Understanding Birth Defects and Reproductive Health: From Basic to Translational Research.
