CONFERENCE: 2002 Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Endocrine Disruptors, July 14 to July 19, 2002, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides partial funding to support the 2002 Gordon Research Conference on Environmental Endocrine Disruptors to be held July 14 to July 19, 2002, at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. This conference, more than any other, will bring together a diverse group of scientists to share their approaches and progress in this most interdisciplinary of subjects spanning many levels of biological organization. Humans and wildlife are exposed to a large number of widely used environmental chemicals known or suspected to have hormonal activity or to interfere with hormone action. Wildlife studies strongly suggest that populations are severely affected by these environmental endocrine disruptors (EEDs) in a number of ways (altered endocrine and reproductive systems, altered behavior, reduced reproduction and population numbers). EEDs are also thought to cause malformations of the human genital tract as well as testicular and breast cancers. These findings have alerted the scientific community, governments worldwide and the general public to the harm likely to be caused by EEDs. The objectives of the Environmental Endocrine Disruptors Gordon Conference are to: 1) present state-of-the-art research at all levels of complexity (molecular to population), 2) emphasize mechanistic approaches to the understanding of endocrine disruption, 3) work at integrating data emerging from these different fields of inquiry and levels of biological complexity, 4) identify gaps in knowledge and emerging areas of inquiry for exploration, and 5) enhance effective communication between scientists and foster new collaborative research efforts at national and international levels. The potential scientific impact of the conference will be to foster research in the area, prioritize common goals and generate new collaborative efforts to solve the identified gaps in knowledge, and to generate a synthesis of the problem across all the levels of complexity. In addition, by facilitating the interaction between established leaders in the field with young scientists, women and minorities, it will enable these young scientists to foster their education, training and career advancement. The conference will consist of nine formal sessions, each containing an introduction by a leading scientist, followed by 2-4 oral presentations, and two afternoon poster sessions. Speakers will be selected on the basis of their relevant expertise, while emphasizing a program with gender balance, minority representation and participation of young investigators that show promise as future scientific leaders. Funds from NSF will be used to reimburse the conference fees and travel expenses of some junior speakers (2 or 3), and to provide travel fellowships to allow the participation of young scientists (preference will be given to women and minorities who are graduate students and postdoctoral fellows).