by Douglas A. Keller and Yvonne Will
The Society of Toxicology Contemporary Concepts in Toxicology (SOT CCT) conference, The Use of Cardiomyocytes for the Assessment of Proarrhythmic Risk, was held October 25‒26, 2016, in Arlington, Virginia. The program included distinguished national and international experts from government, industry, and academia who addressed the utility of new approaches to determine cardiac toxicity and presented the results of their recent research findings. The meeting was structured by the organizing committee to allow ample time for dialogue between the speakers and attendees, to present new and emerging scientific advances through plenary and poster presentations, and to offer opportunities for networking.
There were 91 attendees from the US, Europe, and Asia who provided 38 abstracts and 21 poster presentations. The meeting discussions were lively and interactive as each plenary concluded with a panel of the session speakers who engaged in question-and-answer interactions with the audience of attendees and with each other. The Networking and Poster reception was a highlight of the meeting and provided an opportunity for colleagues to discuss the progress made in this area and interact with early career investigators who are developing the next steps toward the utility of human cellular models.
The organizing committee now is developing a manuscript on the outcomes of this meeting. The members of this committee include: Chair Douglas Keller, Sanofi; Co-Chairs Jane Bai, US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) and Yvonne Will (Pfizer); Gary Gintant (AbbVie); Brian Guth (Boehringer-Ingelheim); Jennifer B. Pierson (ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute); Ajay Pillai, National Institutes of Health; Ruth Roberts (SOT Council Contact, Apconix); Norman Stockbridge (US FDA); and York Tomita (US FDA). For more information on SOT CCT meetings, please visit the SOT website.