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The 2024 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo was chockful of exciting science and networking opportunities. The SOT Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA), for which I serve as Executive Board Chair, organized a slate of events to provide unique events especially tailored to the interests and needs of trainees.

PDA Vice Chair Olawande Olagoke and I hosted a Tiny Tox Talk titled “We Have to Talk: Dealing with Difficult Conversations as a Postdoc.” The Tiny Tox Theater set-up allowed for an interactive and dynamic conversation with the audience.

The PDA Luncheon on Tuesday offered an opportunity for postdocs at the meeting to informally gather and connect with each other over lunch. SOT President Dr. Dori Germolec gave remarks and emphasized the importance of the contributions of postdoctoral members in the Society. Toxicological Sciences Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jeffrey Peters spoke next and encouraged postdocs to submit papers to the journal. The recipients of the Best Postdoctoral Publication Award—Andres Henriquez, Rebekah Petroff, and Xian Wu—were celebrated. I talked about the leadership opportunities in SOT to be a PDA representative for a Component Group and encouraged postdocs to fill these roles as some Component Groups are still looking for a PDA rep. The event was capped off with a fun raffle of items such as a Kindle Fire HD, a 2TB external hard drive, and a book of “2,000 Toxicology Board Review Questions.”

The Career Exploration through Speed Informational Interviews event followed the PDA Luncheon and is an event designed for trainees and graduate students to gain insight into different career sectors in toxicology, make connections with SOT members, and ask questions about the career representatives’ background, career path, and the hiring process in their company/sector. Participants had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with career representatives from academic, government, and industry. For 2025, PDA encourages postdocs to add the PDA Luncheon and the Career Exploration through Speed Informational Interviews as add-on events to their meeting registration.

The PDA also organized Poster Tours for Trainees, where SOT members lead poster tours to give postdoctoral scientists and graduate students an opportunity to shadow an expert toxicologist and take part in critical evaluation of cutting-edge toxicology methods and research findings in a field of their choosing. This is also a valuable networking opportunity to meet with a toxicologist in your field of interest in a small group. Look out for the sign-up for this event ahead of next year’s Annual Meeting.

More events which were designed for postdocs include Chat with an Expert, hosted by the Graduate Student Leadership Committee, which provides an opportunity for graduate students and trainees to network informally with established toxicologists. There was also a Trainee Discussion with Plenary Speaker Chris Gibson. These events offer intimate conversations with experienced toxicologists. The SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo provides a plethora of different forums for toxicologists to come together, and the PDA Executive Board is proud to offer events especially for trainees to connect, learn, and work on their professional development within SOT. We encourage postdocs to look out for these events going into the 2025 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Orlando, Florida. For more information and opportunities tailored for postdocs, check out the spring 2024 Post-y. If you have any questions or ideas about events for postdocs, please contact PDA staff liaison Jenna Pelsey.

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