The SOT Annual Meeting in San Antonio will be filled with opportunities to celebrate and network, as well as to pursue the latest in toxicology. For students who are new to the meeting or who have been before, the place to kick-off the week is the Student/Postdoctoral Mixer on Sunday evening, March 10, from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. This mixer, hosted by the Graduate Student Leadership Committee (GSLC), is a great event to begin networking right away: Learn more about the different component groups of SOT, meet up with colleagues, and discuss issues of interest or concern with other student and postdoctoral meeting attendees. The Mixer was a great success in San Francisco, with over 370 attendees, door prizes, a networking game, and more. Please plan to join us in San Antonio in 2013. Tickets are FREE. Be sure to sign up when you register for the SOT 2013 Annual Meeting.
Another popular activity hosted by the GSLC is the Chat with an Expert. Graduate student participants have the great opportunity to network and gain insights from seasoned toxicologists about career paths. The 2012 program was a great success, with nearly 70 Experts volunteering to meet over 130 students during the SOT Annual Meeting. As part of this dynamic program, graduate students are matched with toxicology experts, establishing communication among them, and facilitating face-to-face meetings at the Annual Meeting. Every year this program is highly rated by the participants. This program also includes “Chat with a Postdoc” and “Chat with a Graduate Student.” Two years ago this program was expanded to include informal face-to-face meetings between postdocs and graduate students (with postdocs acting as hosts), and graduate students and undergraduates (with graduate students acting as hosts). Postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students should register in advance so you can join the group communication before the meeting—the deadline is February 11, 2013.
The GSLC and Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA) will co-sponsor a symposium session at the 2013 Annual Meeting. The session, entitled “Role of Systems Biology in Characterizing Risk of Developmental Origins of Disease,” fits in the SOT scientific theme “Application of Systems Biology to Toxicology.” The symposium session is co-chaired by GSLC Chair Tammy Palenski and David Szabo of the PDA. The goal of this symposium is to consider emerging knowledge and information from systems biology to inform risk assessment and decision making in the arena of developmental origins of disease. This symposium continues our previous success as a co-sponsor of symposia at the past four Annual Meetings. Please plan to attend and support the research of your student and postdoc colleagues!
Students also are encouraged to attend other Annual Meeting events and the Specialty Section receptions, as well as the annual In Vitro Lecture and Luncheon for Students on Monday, March 11, 2013.
The GSLC would like to invite all graduate students to visit the SOT Pavilion on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, during the Annual Meeting to meet the officers of GSLC. Executive Board members will be available during these times to answer questions about the GSLC and welcome feedback on graduate student activities at the Annual Meeting.