Laughter, insightful questions, energetic presentations, mentoring, derby hats, and an emphasis on the need for the best and brightest undergraduates to join us in the field of toxicology have been the resounding themes thus far in the 2014 SOT Undergraduate Program at the 53rd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo.
While last night’s events were more about breaking the ice, today’s activities were all about getting the students—almost all of whom are not toxicology majors—excited about the field and science of toxicology. SOT President Lois Lehman-McKeeman began the morning by telling the students that SOT “believes in building for the future,” which is why we invest in this program, before turning the program over to Antonio T. Baines, PhD, 1993 program alumnus, North Carolina Central University, to provide an introduction to toxicology.
Dr. Baines centered his talk on the fundamentals, such as the dose alone determines the toxicity. At the same time, he highlighted the importance of toxicology in real-world decisions and applications by sprinkling his presentation with discussions of current events, like the West Virginia chemical spill and the growing popularity of e-cigarettes. Other interesting components of his presentation included a caution to the students to be careful when you hear statements fromt the media that a chemical is good or bad, as the science is usually more complictated than that—and that we're looking to them, as the future generation of scientists, to be the ones to help us determine the safety levels of chemicals. Despite a fire alarm partway through the presentation, Dr. Baines and the participants persevered, continuing the lecture outside in the sun.
Moving back indoors, Judith A. Zelikoff, PhD, SOT Council member, New York University School of Medicine, presented her research the use of smoked and smokeless tobacco products during pregnancy. And she had some scary statistics to share:
- There are more than 6,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke.
- While overall smoking rates are decreasing in developed countries, rates for smoking among teenage girls are rapidly rising, and in some countries, the girls are “out-smoking” their male counterparts.
- Globally, 14 million women smoke while pregnant.
- One hour-long hookah session is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes.
- It’s estimated that the hookah smoking rate amongst college students in the US in 40 to 48 percent.
As if these statistics weren’t eye-opening on their way, she then shared the research going on in her lab, where the effects of smoking during pregnancy on offspring are being researched. Some of the results show that childhood obesity and increased likelihood of childhood cancer can be connected with a mother smoking while pregnant.
The last presenter on the morning docket was Martin A. Philbert, PhD, ATS, University of Michigan, who discussed the difficulty of developing new medicines. He then went into detail on his and others’ research into theragnostics with nanoparticles and the creation of biodegradable polymers.
Dr. Philbert emphasized the important role that toxicologists can play in cross-disciplinary research and teams, stating bluntly, “My job is to say no.” He elaborated by saying that now more than ever, we need toxicologists who can talk across disciplines to mathematicians, engineers, and others to make sure that safety is coming first when developing new techniques, technology, and treatment.
Such a wealth of information was shared—and it was only the start, as the Undergraduate Program continues today and through tomorrow. Glad to have all of the students and mentors with us!