The Teratology Society was founded in 1960 to foster exchange of information relating to congenital (birth) defects including their nature, cause, mechanism and prevention. In 2009 the Society will hold its 49th Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico. The meeting provides a place and time to network and indulge in discussions from philosophical to practical with established experts in the field, new researchers, and students. It is also a place and time to promote and express our scientific diversity as a Society of fellow clinicians, scientists and science policy regulators from academic, industrial, and government sectors. The Society understands the importance of encouraging and mentoring students and postdoctoral fellows, including fostering education and training as part of its strategic goals. The meeting agenda includes events and sessions to encourage student and postdoctoral fellow participation. There will be one platform session which highlights the research of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. This platform session is comprised of talks competitively selected from the pool of abstracts submitted for platform presentation by students and postdoctoral fellows. Those students and postdoctoral fellows whose abstracts are not selected for this session are included in other platform and poster sessions throughout the meeting. Students and postdoctoral fellow posters are marked as such in order to encourage interaction between the presenters and the members of the Society and meeting attendees. The Teratology Society recognizes that the students and fellows are the future of both the Society and the scientific discipline. Involving the students and fellows in the science by providing them an opportunity to present their research, interact with some of the leading scientists in the field, and form relationships that they will carry throughout their career is vital to the field of birth defects research. Many of these students and postdoctoral fellows rely on travel awards to assist them in offsetting the financial burden of attending the meeting. Without funding such as this, many would not be able to take advantage of the rich exchange of scientific information and new ideas generated at this scientific meeting. In this proposal, the investigators are requesting funds to defray part of the cost of travel awards. Travel awards will be granted to students and postdoctoral fellows presenting their research findings during the 2009 Teratology Society Annual Meeting.
The Teratology Society is committed to the support and encouragement of students and postdoctoral fellows both within the field of Teratology and the Society. The Society understands the importance of involving the students and postdoctoral fellows in its Annual Meeting, which provides a forum in which they can share information with established scientists through formal scientific sessions and informal interactions. For forty-eight years, the Teratology Society has brought together academic, industrial and governmental scientists interested in birth defects research and prevention.
