Toxicology Forum
The Toxicology Forum (TTF) is a global scientific, professional society incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)3 in the United States. The Toxicology Forum host prestigious scientific conferences annually during the winter and summer months. Conference topics cover a wide-range of toxicology-related issues with the focus on transparent discussions from various viewpoints including academicians, government agencies, industry, independent experts, consultants and policymakers. Particular attention is paid to having meetings where there is a carefully balanced approach to the topics and issues presented, including an emphasis on highlighting alternative positions for each issue. The non-adversarial atmosphere of Toxicology Forum meetings results in frank and open discussions that do not need to arrive at consensus. The Toxicology Forum motto is “Understanding Through Dialogue”. Anyone who pays the registration fee can attend. These unique features allow the public, other scientists and governments to evaluate what is discussed for content, balance, and accountability. Traditionally, conferences locations were Aspen, CO (summer), Washington, DC (winter) and Brussels for a fall European meeting. As of 2015 and continuing forward, the conference locations are Washington, DC (winter) and the Washington, DC suburbs (summer). Toxicology Forum meetings continue to provide productive avenues to explore and discuss topical toxicology issues relevant to government, industry, academia, and other groups.
The mission of the Toxicology Forum is to promote and to encourage open dialogue among: government agencies, industry, academia, policymakers and public interest groups concerned with toxicology-related public health issues. Such interactions will facilitate research and sound policy decisions that protect and promote public health and build a better understanding through dialogue.
The Toxicology Forum is known to its members as The Forum (after the Roman forums). The core values of The Forum are honesty, integrity, independence, transparency and collaboration.
Over the years, the Toxicology Forum has had close affiliations with professional, scientific societies, and other organizations such as, but not limited to, the following:
American Beverage Association (ABA)
American Chemistry Council (ACC)
American College of Toxicology (ACT)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
National Institute of Health (NIH)
US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA)
History
In 1973, Philippe Shubik, MD and Alex Malaspina, PhD, recognized the need for the Toxicology Forum to provide a mechanism for engaging academicians, government agencies, industry, independent experts, consultants and policymakers in open discuss regarding contentious issues of public health concerns. The unique, non-adversarial atmosphere of Toxicology Forum meetings resulted in frank and open discussions that did not need to arrive at consensus. Within a few years of the first Aspen scientific conference, regular conferences also were held in Europe in Geneva, several cities in France and Germany, Copenhagen, Oxford as well as in Budapest two weeks after the inauguration of the first democratically elected government after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Professor Dr. Arpad Somogyi, who has contributed to the Toxicology Forum since its inception, played a key role in establishing the Forum’s presence in Europe. People such as Professor Nicolai P. Napalkov and Professor René Truhaut also made substantial contributions to the Forum’s success in Europe. The trend to push the meetings into new areas to promote international dialogue continued with conferences held in Nigeria (1979) and Beijing (1988).
For the first two decades, five people made a particularly large impact on the shape of the programs, along with the help of many others from academia, industry and government: Drs. Shubik (an academic), Malaspina (private sector), Munro (Health Canada), Clayson (first at the Eppley Institute and then from Health Canada) and Somogyi (first at the Eppley Institute and then worked to establish the Forum in Europe). Leadership from the US Food and Drug Administration also was important including Drs Herb Blumenthal, Gary Flamm, Richard Ronk, and Alan Rulis. Early industry supporters included Drs. George Scott and Donald Hughes of Procter and Gamble, Richard Hall of McCormick, and John Kirschman of General Foods. This far-sighted group of scientists plus many others supplying suggestions and participation for important meetings made The Forum. For more details about The Forum history, there is a website you can visit www.toxforum.org.
The physical location for TTF is: 11190 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 300 Reston, VA 20191 Phone: 703.547.0876
Meetings/Scientific Conferences
The Toxicology Forum is dedicated to facilitating open, transparent dialogue among leading scientists, policy makers and public interest group leadership concerned with current challenges in toxicology, environmental, and public health. The objective of the meetings is to discuss and better understand the science that leads to more effective future research as well as sound basis for good regulatory decisions affecting human health.
Summer Meeting, 1974 till 2015 held in Aspen, CO—Currently held in the Washington, DC suburbs. Winter Meeting, 1976 and currently held in Washington, DC.
Publications
A quick internet search produces results excessing 20,000+ google hits citing the Toxicology Forum conferences as the source. The output from the annual meetings is sometimes published in the scientific literature - for example "RNAi technologies in agricultural biotechnology: The Toxicology Forum 40th Annual Summer Meeting"[1]
Membership
Membership is open to all individuals involved and interested in the science of toxicology. Membership dues are $200 per year.
Awards
The Toxicology Forum offers two yearly awards that recognize outstanding contributors to the science of toxicology and their mentorship to future generations of scientists. The Philippe Shubik and George H. Scott Awards have been bestowed upon many noteworthy toxicologists. A listing of the Shubik awardees can be found here ([2] ) and a listing of the Scott awardees can be found here ([3]).
References[edit]
- ↑ Sherman, James H; Munyikwa, Tichafa; Chan, Stephen Y; Petrick, Jay S; Witwer, Kenneth W; Choudhuri, Supratim (2015). "RNAi technologies in agricultural biotechnology: The Toxicology Forum 40th Annual Summer Meeting". Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 73 (2): 671–680. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2015.09.001. PMID 26361858.
- ↑ http://dialogue.toxforum.org/d/do/377H.
- ↑ http://dialogue.toxforum.org/d/do/376
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