This application is for support of the Annual Meeting of the Developmental Neurotoxicology Society (DNTS). The annual meeting of DNTS highlights new data and theoretical constructs concerning developmental neurotoxicology and the developmental origins of adult CNS disorders that result from developmental exposure to drugs, environmental agents, pesticides, and contaminants (including food contaminants), stressors, genetic mutations, epigenetic changes, and interactions among them. Effects on humans and experimental animals are used, and studies of cellular, molecular, physiological, and behavioral effects/mechanisms are presented. Issues of construct and translational validity are considered, as well as developments concerning the mechanisms of how drugs and chemicals affect brain and behavioral ontogeny. The 2018 meeting featured topics on methods, advances in the science of developmental disorders, and problems of American society, such as tobacco, marijuana, opioid addiction, and medications to treat addiction during pregnancy, effects of environmental agents and potential causes of children?s neurobehavioral disorders. The meeting brings together developmental neuroscientists, developmental neurotoxicologists, developmental psychologists, developmental epidemiologists, teratologists, developmental toxicologists, medical geneticists, physicians, genetic councilors, and environmental scientists from academia, industry, and government. DNTS meets with the Teratology Society (TS) and the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) cooperatively.
Aim 1 : Support Conference Travel Awards for 4 trainees (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduates or research assistants) to present their newest data. Conference Awards are $700 each. The Society matches this by supporting 4 additional conference travel awards.
Aim 2 : Support (50%) for the Patricia Rodier Mid-Career Award jointly with TS.
Aim 3 : Provide partial support for travel expenses for non- member, invited speakers. DNTS typically invites 8-10 non-member speakers per year. We request $2,500 toward this cost. A recent meeting cost for outside speakers was $15,000. Hence, $2,500 requested will be a fraction of the total cost of outside speakers but is critical to the vibrancy of the Society?s Annual Meetings. Five years of support is requested at $6,000/year.
The Developmental Neurotoxicology Society (DNTS) annual meeting is the primary outlet for new findings concerning developmental neurotoxicology and the developmental origins of adult brain disorders from drugs, environmental chemicals, pesticides, and contaminants (including food contaminants), stressors, genetic mutations, epigenetic changes, and their interactions on humans and experimental animals. This application is for partial support ($6,000/year for 5 years) of the Annual Meeting based on its high relevance to the mission of NCTR/FDA: Aim 1: Support Conference Travel Awards for 4 trainees to present their data ($700 each = $2,800), Aim 2: Support (50%) for the Patricia Rodier Mid-Career Award with the Teratology Society ($1,000), and Aim 3: Partial support for non-member invited speakers ($2,200).
