Second African Conference on Health Effects of Endocrine Disrupters

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary This application requests funds to support the 2nd African Endocrine Disruptor conference and the accompanying mini-symposium for trainees, to be held at the Skukuza Rest Camp in Kruger National Park in South Africa from November 4-8, 2019. The conference theme is Sustainable approaches towards healthy African communities. The objective of the conference is to foster collaborations between African and international researchers, provide international networking opportunities for trainees, and allow researchers to share resources. The proposed conference will have 9 sessions: The first session will have two keynote talks focused on challenges and successes of collaborative EDC research. Next, there will be 6 scientific sessions, each focused around a broad topic such as ?Novel approaches to evaluate effects of EDCs on the fetus and child?, ?Emerging contaminants and EDCs in the environment and people?, ?Hazards that contaminate African water, soil, crops and people? and ?Animals as unintended targets of environmental EDCs and alerts from laboratory animals?. The final sessions will highlight ?big picture? issues including proposed paths to address major gaps in EDC research. Prior to the meeting, a full-day mini-symposium targeted toward trainees will include three short talks by research leaders in the EDC field, two short talks focused on ethics and publishing, and four short talks selected from trainee abstracts. The mini-symposium will conclude with a career mentoring and development session. The proposed program was assembled with the intent of providing information for trainees, junior scientists, and established members of many disciplines who have an interest in cutting-edge research, collaborative approaches, and emerging methodologies to redefine and advance the field. Importantly, the proposed speakers will examine EDC research at all levels of biological organization, from molecules to whole populations, and will include discussions of studies of laboratory animals, humans, and wildlife. The program will also take advantage of established interactions with the H3Africa program, a consortium of NIH funded researchers in Africa and the US, to ensure coverage of scientific topics including gene x environment interactions, the building of infrastructure in the scientific enterprise, and building of cross-continental collaborations. With its focus on Africa and other developing nations, discussion will emphasize ways to integrate results from laboratory studies with data from ecological, epidemiological and clinical studies; using this approach will allow participants to obtain a comprehensive, translational view of how legacy and emerging EDCs affect health of individuals and populations.