New Technologies Newsletter

Annual Report (2006–2007) to the EMS Council on "New Technologies" SIG

The two SIGs Genomics and New Technologies were combined together as "New Technologies" SIG under the chairmanship of Ron Snyder and Martyn Smith at the EMS Annual Meeting in Vancouver, 2006. It was decided that the New Technologies SIG would provide an avenue for discussion of emerging technologies, screening for genotoxicity and or understanding mechanisms of genotoxicity. To indicate the name change and the objectives of the SIG, a speaker presented research focused on the emerging new field of nano-technology. Also, the "New Technologies SIG" directory was created by Brinda Mahadevan which will be posted on the EMS New Technologies SIG website that provides a very important resource for members to consult regarding specific questions on new technologies.

The agenda for the New Technologies SIG at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta has been finalized and will include discussion on general activities of the SIG, in addition to nomination of office bearers and volunteer sign up. The highlight of the breakfast will be presentations by two speakers:
Dr. James Fuscoe (Director, Center for Functional Genomics, U.S. FDA, NCTR) The FDA Critical Path: Fostering Innovation in Medical Product Development and Dr. Martyn T. Smith (Professor of Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley) "A Comparison of Affymetrix and Illumina Platforms".

The finalized SIG breakfast agenda for the Annual Meeting in Atlanta (2007) was sent out by email to all the members in the SIG directory and we anticipate a good turn out and active participation at the meeting.

Dear Members of New Technology SIG:
We just had the chance to compile the survey from the EMS-Puerto Rico breakfast and our sincere thanks for the great feedback we received from you. We accomplished many things at this meeting and we would like to highlight them for you, so you can see how we are succeeding as a group:

The Saturday workshop: "Omic" Application and Impacts on genotoxicity Assessment, organized by New Technologies SIG was a success. We had over 50 participants and a special issue in the journal Mutation Research on topics covered at the workshop is being planned for 2009.
The SIG breakfast at the EMS meeting was very well attended, over 30 participants with two scientific presentations on new technologies.
Based on your suggestions provided in the survey we have put together the mission statement for incorporation by EMS and is as follows:

Mission Statement for New Technologies, Special Interest Group (SIG)

The mission of the New Technologies SIG is to provide a forum for discussion on existing and emerging technologies that relate to current topics in the field of mutagenesis, genetic toxicology, molecular epidemiology and toxicology. Relevant activities of this SIG may include, but are not limited to, organizing and/or sponsoring symposia, roundtable discussions, workshops; Inviting speakers to introduce new technologies, and discuss their strengths and limitations. In addition, this SIG will provide a platform for academia, industry and government agencies for discussion and guidance in incorporating new technologies into the risk assessment and safety evaluation process.

Topics chosen for the proposed activities of the SIG will focus on those areas of new emerging science and technology that are deemed most likely to be of broad enough interest so as to be relevant to existing Society members while, by virtue of novel content, attracting new members; in this way, expanding the scope of the Society.

Currently, we are actively working with the 2009 Program Committee for the active representation of New Technologies SIG in scientific symposia/sessions for the next year meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.

In addition, our goal for next year is to have the New Technology SIG website up and running. We have several new volunteers to assist with the website and we greatly appreciate their help. Patricia and I are extremely grateful for your participation in the SIG and we looking into implementing some of the suggestions provided in the survey at the EMS meeting. Please feel free to email us (Brinda Mahadevan or Patricia Escobar) anytime on suggestions or if you are interested in volunteering with the activities of the SIG. Thank you and Happy Holidays!!
Regards,

Brinda Mahadevan & Patricia Escobar
(EMS-New Technologies, SIG Chairs)