I am pleased to report that, today, I joined NIEHS Director and SOT Past President Linda Birnbaum to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SOT and NIEHS.
SOT has had a strong relationship with NIEHS for many years, as the institute’s mission “to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives” aligns very closely with our mission of improving human and environmental health through toxicology. Almost 100 SOT members are employed within the NIEHS, and the institute has been an active participant and sponsor of sessions at the SOT Annual Meeting and other events.
Because of these close connections, it seemed only natural for SOT and NIEHS to formalize our robust, working relationship. By signing a MOU with NIEHS, SOT has committed to “pursue collaborative efforts such as liaison communications, partnerships, and events that promote best practices associated with common interests and missions” in efforts to “improve the identification, characterization, and prevention of environmentally related disease.”
Essentially, SOT and NIEHS will be proceeding as we always have: working together to improve environmental health. The only difference is that we now have a public document acknowledging this beneficial and profound partnership. My thanks go to Director Birnbaum and her team for supporting and joining us today.