The Teratology Society will hold its 58th Annual Meeting at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort in Clearwater, Florida on June 23?27, 2018. The scientific program covers a wide-range of cutting-edge research in birth defects and disorders of developmental origin. Sessions will present advances and emerging information in autism research, rare childhood diseases and unmet medical needs, nonclinical neonatal disease models, epigenetic effects of environmental exposures during pregnancy, developmental effects of opiates and botanicals, effects of infectious diseases during pregnancy, mechanisms of limb and neural tube defects, and progress in birth defects prevention. Several sessions will focus on emerging technologies and their applications in birth defects research, including new cell culture methods for developmental toxicity screening, new genomics technologies, and status of alternative test methods for regulatory purposes. The meeting attendees historically come from diverse professional backgrounds including basic and clinical scientists from the academic, industrial, and government research sectors. The Teratology Society Annual Meeting provides a unique forum where basic, clinical, and epidemiologic researchers come together to share progress toward a common understanding of the causes and mechanisms of birth defects and developmental disorders, and to translate these discoveries into clinical practice. New to this year?s meeting will be inclusion of several discussion forums around specific research topics intended to define research needs and facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration among members. The Society strives to encourage, engage, and mentor students and new/early stage investigators (trainees), recognizing that its trainees represent the future of both the Society and the important scientific work necessary to fulfill its mission to understand and prevent birth defects. Specific events at the Annual Meeting encourage trainee participation, including a welcome social event; a breakfast event where trainees are paired 1:1 with members for in depth discussion of research and career paths; a treasure hunt designed to facilitate interactions of trainees with a broad range of Society members; a career night to introduce trainees to members from different disciplines; and a luncheon workshop highlighting professional development topics. At this year?s meeting, trainees will also be offered an opportunity for a 1:1 ?mock interview? to strengthen interview skills. Trainees are encouraged to present their research; eight to ten trainees are invited to compete for the prestigious Wilson presentation award in a special platform session, and all trainee poster presentations are judged for best poster presentation awards. Trainees are also encouraged to serve as ad hoc members on Society committees, thereby deepening their involvement within the Society. In this application, we are requesting funds to support Travel Awards for trainees to attend the 2018 Annual Meeting, and to partially support travel expenses of key nonmember speakers who will help us educate and inspire these trainees.
For fifty-seven years, the Teratology Society has promoted basic and clinical research to understand the causes and mechanisms of birth defects, the potential effects of drug, chemical, infectious or other exposures on the developing embryo/fetus, improve reproductive health, understand developmental origins of adult disease, 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 NICHD in advancing the knowledge on reproduction and embryo-fetal and postnatal development, as evidenced by the theme of the 2018 Annual Meeting, Mechanisms, Models, Mothers and Babies: Bringing Birth Defects Research into Practice.
