Tao Wang, Kristy Kutanzi, and Xi Yang served as roving reporters at the SOT 2013 Annual Meeting and submitted the article below.
The 2nd Annual SOT Mentoring Breakfast was held this year in San Antonio on Monday, March 11, 2013. In an effort to make the Mentoring Breakfast part of a larger SOT mentoring initiative, the Career Resource and Development (CRAD) Committee, WIT, Postdoctoral Assembly (PDA) and Special Interest Group Collaboration Group (SIGCG) were brought together by this common mission. SOT Councilor Donald A. Fox highlighted the two key strategic priorities of SOT that can be accomplished through this mentoring breakfast: “Build for the Future of Toxicology” and “Enhance Member Engagement.” This year 50 mentees registered for the breakfast event, and these mentees met with trained facilitators to communicate their needs for a mentor. After the 52nd Annual SOT Meeting, the facilitators will use the information collected at the breakfast to match the mentees with mentors using the CRAD-maintained Mentor Match database. The Mentoring Breakfast also served as an opportunity for the mentees to learn about the SOT Mentoring Program for all career levels, gain insights into the development of a successful mentoring relationship with testimonials from last year’s mentee Xi Yang and mentor Pedro del Valle, in addition to networking with colleagues. All registrants received a book entitled, The Mentee’s Guide: Making Mentoring Work for You by Lois J. Zachary and Lory A. Fischler as an additional resource for mentoring.
Following a very successful inaugural Career Development Workshop last year in San Francisco, the American Association of Chinese in Toxicology (AACT) and the Korean Toxicologist Association in America (KTAA) jointly offered the 2nd annual Career Development Workshop on Tuesday morning, March 12. Approximately 40 students, postdoctoral scholars, and early career scientists attended the event with more than 10 seasoned toxicologists from government and industry. Last year, the mentoring theme focused on working as industrial toxicologists. Tao Wang from Novartis (AACT) and Christopher J. Choi from Colgate-Palmolive Company (KTAA) talked about how to prepare for a successful career as an industrial toxicologist. This year the theme of the Career Development Workshop focused on working overseas as a toxicologist. Four panelists: Charles Wang (GlaxoSmithKline China), Yi Yang (Sanofi China), Sang-Joon Lee (Korea Institute of Toxicology), and James Yan (Covance China) provided their individual perspectives about the job market in the Contract Research Organization (CRO), pharmaceutical, and government sectors in China and Korea. During the panel discussion session, comparisons between working in the United States and overseas, networking, and leadership development were discussed.
Both the Mentoring Breakfast and the Career Development Workshop by AACT/KTAA were well received with enthusiasm by the mentees. These events provided guidance and knowledge to help the young members of SOT transition to a new career with ease. By building bridges to connect diverse member groups, and providing continuous mentoring throughout, the participants will retain a competitive edge as the culture and practice of toxicology evolves, and ultimately builds for the future of toxicology, which is a key objective of the SOT. The Mentoring Breakfast Planning Committees from these Special Interest Groups look forward to hosting another successful breakfast in Phoenix, Arizona, next year!