On October 23, 2013, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (MASOT) held a very successful meeting on “Inhalation Toxicology: Current Risk Perspectives” at the Sheraton Hotel-Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey. The program was so popular and interest so high that meeting registration reached capacity for the venue. Approximately 30% of the attendees were students. To start off the day, MASOT President Ric Stanulis welcomed everyone and provided a brief business update. MASOT Councilor/Education and Outreach Committee Chair Diane Hardej then followed with an update on the recent education and outreach activities of the chapter and urged everyone to attend educational events at the upcoming 2014 SOT Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, March 23–27, 2014. Finally, MASOT Vice-President/Program Committee Chair Conney Berger introduced the program. Pictured above are MASOT Fall 2013 Meeting speakers (left to right): Bruce Naumann, John B. Morris, Tony Hickey, Molly Shea, Aidan Curran, and Mike DeLorme.
Aidan Curran started us off with some background on lung biology, toxicology, and pathology with the introductory presentation, “Inhalation Toxicology: The Breathe Ins and Outs of Respiratory Safety Assessment.” Following Dr. Curran, Tony Hickey discussed the exposure aspects of inhalation toxicology with “Therapeutic Aerosol Delivery and Disposition: The Importance of Local and Systemic Pharmacokinetics.” During the break for lunch, we thanked and honored this year’s MASOT Ambassador, Ed Sargent, for his years of dedicated service and promotion of the science of toxicology. In turn, he honored us with a wonderful look forward into the future with his talk, "Occupational Toxicology in the 21st Century."
After lunch, we were enlightened by real-world inhalation toxicology examples from the areas of pharma (Lung Toxicity of Inhaled Oligonucleotides—Molly Shea), environmental (Diacetyl Vapor Toxicity: Elucidation of a Critical Role of Regional Airway Dosimetry—John B. Morris), occupational (Use of Pharmacokinetic Data when Setting Occupational Exposure Limits,OELs—Bruce Naumann), and nanotechnology (Use of Lung Inflammatory Endpoints when Setting Occupational Exposure Limits for Nanomaterials—Mike DeLorme).
During the program, we also had a “Lunch with an Expert” session and two poster sessions for students to present their current research efforts. Student posters were judged by an expert panel headed by George DeGeorge, Vice President-Elect. The winners were Dana Lauterstein from New York University (Most Outstanding), Shalini Roy and Lokesh Sharma (tie) both from St. John’s University (Outstanding), and Chris Massa from Rutgers University, who won the Membership Award as judged by the meeting attendants.
In addition, this is the third year we have presented the Dr. Geoffrey K. Hogan, PhD, DABT Memorial Scholarship/Travel Award. This is an award in memory of the late Geoffrey Hogan, initiated by his former employer Huntingdon Life Sciences, and continued by his wife Mrs. Barbara Hogan. Each year, a PhD student in good standing is selected based on their current research goals in toxicology/pharmacology and its impact on human health. Winners receive a $1,000 check towards travel to the next annual SOT Annual Meeting to present their work. This year’s Hogan Award winner was Ashley Green from Rutgers University. Congratulations to all with their fine work!
A strong thank you goes out to the MASOT Program Committee (2013–2014) that developed this program. The members include Lauren Aleksunes, Conney W. Berger, Jr. (Chair), Jason Blum, Todd Davidson, George DeGeorge, Janet Gould, Diane Hardej, Jedd Hillegass, John Mitchell, Robert Parker, Gloria Post, Prathibha Rao, Valerie Shultz, Ric Stanulis, Karl Traul, Myra Weiner, Arlene Weiss, and Daniel Willis along with graduate students Ravikumar Sitapara and Puneet Vij.
Gracious financial sponsorship for this meeting was provided by WIL Research, Charles River Laboratories, CiToxLAB North America, Huntingdon Life Sciences, and ITR Laboratories Canada. In addition, SOT Headquarters granted student travel support and assisted with meeting logistics.
Thank you all for your attendance and support to make this such a successful meeting!