President’s Message - April 2020

A Message from Peter Di Marco, April 2020

Dear Colleagues,

2020 is proving to be a year of unprecedented events in the history of IUTOX. The spread of Covid19 has led to changes in our daily activities with which we need to conform to reduce the spread of the corona virus. It was a difficult decision, but we had to defer our annual, face-to-face meeting in Anaheim in March to safeguard the health of the committee, our families and our communities. In the face of uncertainty, we can continue to engage with one another virtually in a meaningful way to continue our mission “to improve human health through the science and practice of toxicology world-wide” at this pivotal time in history. We held the deferred meeting online—virtual face-to-face—on two occasions on April 7 and 10 and we are scheduled to continue every three months.

As public health is in the public’s mindset more so now than ever, we must look to the future. In a little more than a year, we will join together at the 11th Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries (CTDC11), co-hosted by the Malaysian Society of Toxicology, in Kuala Lumpur from June 13–16, 2021. The various planning committees are working hard to bring you an exciting and relevant scientific program in a one-of-a-kind venue.

The Congress’ theme, Multidisciplinary Approaches in Toxicology Towards Supporting Sustainable Development Goals, reflects the commitment of Malaysia and the South East Asia (SEA) region to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Congress will bring together toxicologists of various disciplines in government, industry and universities from around the world. A robust program for the four-day Congress is designed to include continuous education courses, keynote speakers, plenary and symposium sessions that will showcase the latest global updates, especially on challenges in developing countries, and will facilitate collaboration and partnerships in education, research and development. I encourage you to submit your session proposal by (deadline) and be part of the conversation.

In July 2019, IUTOX and the Society of Toxicology (SOT) were proud to co-host the 15th International Congress of Toxicology (ICTXV) held in Honolulu, Hawaii. SOT shares the following highlights:

SOT was glad to uphold the ICT tradition of providing educational and capacity-building opportunities for all toxicologists by providing expertise through a scientific conference that recognizes the needs of scientists throughout our global community. The inclusive and diverse program highlighted excellence in the science and practice of toxicology around the globe, balancing interests of different countries and world regions:

The IUTOX Merit Award was presented to Elaine Faustman during the ICTXV Opening Ceremony on Monday, July 15, 2019.

Members of the outgoing and incoming IUTOX Executive Committee at the leadership transition meeting in Honolulu. From Left (Top Row): José Manautou, Lijie Fu, Peter Di Marco, Werner Kobel, Salmaan H. Inayaat-Hussain From Left (Bottom Row): Nursen Basaran, Barbara Hales, Jun Kanno, Donna Breskin (Executive Director 2008-2019), Yoshito Kumagai, Elaine Faustman (advisor), Mary Gulumian (advisor).

We are now heading into uncharted territory in the world of scientific meetings. IUTOX remains in a vulnerable state financially, and even more so today, individuals are hard-pressed to make the decision of which face-to-face meetings are justified for travel. Dues from our Member Societies remain the principal source of annual revenue for to IUTOX to fund the secretariat, a yearly face-to-face meeting and to provide travel awards and hosting of the ICT and CTDC meetings around the world. I would appreciate your thoughts on what IUTOX can provide to you in the form of education or resources while we traverse this new landscape of pandemic and what you can do to help us bring these activities to countries in need of our help—teamwork has a better chance of succeeding than individual efforts.

I am grateful to our outgoing IUTOX President, Jun Kanno, for his leadership throughout his term and the direction of successful IUTOX programs. As we move forward together, I look forward to staying in touch and hearing how your organization and IUTOX can work together to improve human health. I hope that all remains well with you and your families, and I hope to be seeing each of you around the world very soon under better circumstances. Be safe; this pandemic will eventually resolve–working together, our societies can achieve our objective “to improve human health through the science and practice of toxicology worldwide.”

Best regards,

Peter Di Marco
2019–2022 IUTOX President