As I write this message, the temperature is hovering in the single digits and there is a light snow falling on top of the foot of snow currently covering the ground. So, it goes without saying that I am really looking forward to the Annual Meeting in Phoenix!!! However, I am looking forward to the meeting not just because I anticipate pleasant sunny weather, but also because I know the scientific program will be outstanding. All abstracts, including those submitted during the second abstract submission period, are now finalized, and the program includes a total of 2,892 accepted submissions (3rd highest in our meeting history).
As this is the last of my President’s messages, I am going to focus on the outcome of the review of the Society’s communication strategy that was a major emphasis of SOT Council over the past year. One of the priorities of the Society’s strategic plan concerns the recognition and communication of the value of toxicology. However, over the past 10 years, our efforts in this area have generally been reactionary, not always well focused, and often times ineffective. Please note that my comments are not intended to be critical of any particular group. Rather, as a professional scientific organization, we understood that such efforts should be a priority, but we just didn’t do a very good job of recognizing our own strengths and weaknesses, nor did we develop clear objectives to focus our efforts.
During this year, SOT Council worked closely with the Communications Committee to critically evaluate our efforts in this important area. We reconfirmed that our overarching goal is to establish SOT and the science of toxicology as a credible, objective, and valuable resource to effectively engage in scientific communication. As of today, we are close to finalizing our plans for how to best move forward to advance our overall communication strategy and efforts. We will focus on those activities that we believe will most effectively advance our ability to communicate the relevance and importance of toxicology. The new initiatives are as follows:
- A task force will be established with the goal of improving the SOT website, both for our own members as well as for the general public. The new website needs to be a much better resource for communicating toxicology issues and principles. Efforts will be directed to improving the overall design and accessibility of the site, and content will be upgraded to provide good resources to all visitors to the site. There will be some costs associated with a major overhaul of the website, but we believe that such expenditures will be a wise investment for the Society.
- A second task force will be established to develop processes by which SOT can become more proactive in responding to toxicology-related news, and more skilled in responding to media inquiries. This effort will include recommendations for the types of skills our members need in order to be objective voices for our science and our Society. With the aid of a new Communications Manager Michelle Werts, we also will work to use social media in our communication strategy and outreach.
- In case you didn’t know, SOT does have a Twitter feed and a Facebook page. Please check them out
- The TSCA Task Force will continue its efforts to communicate with Congress on this important national legislation. Moving forward, we will use focused task forces such as the one commissioned to address the TSCA legislation in our interactions with legislative bodies.
The initiatives listed above may seem obvious, perhaps even trite. I can assure you that our conclusions were reached after considerable discussion, critical evaluation, and careful analysis of general costs relative to expected benefits. I hope that as these plans move forward, this year of work will position the Society for sustained progress and growth in our collective abilities to effectively promote the recognition of toxicology. As we advance these initiatives, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the collective work of the members of the Communications Committee over the past several years. Their dedication and work to the recognition of toxicology have helped to set the stage for what is to come.
Before looking forward to the Annual Meeting in Phoenix, I want to acknowledge the very successful Contemporary Concepts in Toxicology (CCT) meeting that was held in mid-January. The meeting entitled “FutureTox II: In Vitro Data and In Silico Models for Predictive Toxicology” was held in North Carolina, but included opportunities for “offsite” participation through web connections, thereby engaging a large group of scientists. The smaller, focused CCT meetings are not only educational and networking opportunities, but also provide another venue by which we can promote the recognition of toxicology more broadly among our scientific colleagues.
This FutureTox II CCT was developed by the Scientific Liaison Coalition (SLC), a collaborative group of 16 societies including SOT. The central mission of the SLC is to improve the ability of societies to partner with other domestic and international organizations with the goal of increasing the impact of the science of toxicology to improve public health. The development and planning of the FutureTox II CCT meeting demonstrates the mission of the SLC in action, and the SLC should be proud of its contributions to the future of toxicology via FutureTox II.
And finally, I return to the highlight of our professional calendar, the Annual Meeting. I am looking forward to greeting as many members as possible in Phoenix. I know that everyone has a busy schedule during the week, and with the scope of the meeting content, there is the never-ending struggle with trying to be in two places at one time. I hope that as you are walking (or running) to the next session or poster, you might also find the time to stop momentarily to appreciate the scope and quality of our science, the value of the professional friendships that have developed over your time as members, and the collective efforts of all of the Society committees and support staff that make the meeting so successful.
It has been my honor and pleasure to lead the SOT during the past year. I also want to acknowledge all the members of SOT Council who have dedicated considerable time to work with me to advance the goals of the Society during this year.
See you in Phoenix.
Lois D. Lehman–McKeeman, PhD, ATS
2013–2014 SOT President