CURRENT OFFICERS, 2007-08
President: / Maryka H. BhattacharyyaPresident-elect: / Stacie L. Wild
Vice-President: / Laura Andrews
Secretary/Treasurer: / Melissa C. Rhodes
Past President: / Carol S. Auletta
Junior Councilor / Kristina D. Chadwick
Senior Councilor / Katie Sprugel
Postdoctoral Rep: / Julie A. Gosse
Student Rep: / Jennifer D. Cohen
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
I am very happy to address you in my final newsletter as WIT President! Thank you all for your involvement in WIT. I am proud of all we have done and have enjoyed serving you.
I am happy to report that, of the four tasks that I asked for your input on, we have completed three and done a wonderful job:
Task 1) We identified multiple candidates for each WIT position: Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Councilor. Although this approach means that someoneruns but is not chosen, the application of democratic principles involved in having multiple candidates is superior to the nominating committee presenting a single-nominee slateof candidates. We are ‘big girls’ and can stand to lose as well as win, right? Thank you to Carol Auletta for chairing the WIT Nominating Committee!
Tasks 2&3) We attracted many excellent applications for both our new Elsevier Mentoring Award (12) and the WIT Student Achievement Awards (27!). Thank you to all of our members who submitted applications or helped to nominate a colleague. Thank you to Kristina Chadwick for chairing the WIT Awards Committee!
Action #4 is a work in progress and requests that you develop ideas for WIT submissions to the SOT 2009 Annual Meeting Program! We will discuss your ideas at the WIT business meeting during the WIT Reception. Preparing materials for program applications starts RIGHT AFTER the Seattlemeeting, so the time to start thinking is now! If you have a particularly strong idea, please let me know, and let’s start developing your thoughts!
Finally, please make sure your SOT travel plans include Wednesday, March 19– the day of the WIT noontime Informational Seminar and the evening WIT Reception (6:00 -7:30pm)!
Respectfully yours,Maryka H Bhattacharyya
NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS,2008-09
Congratulations on your new positions! And thank you for your commitment to WIT.
Vice-President Elect: Suzanne Fitzpatrick, PhD, DABT
Secretary/Treasurer:Frances Crofts, PhD, DABT
Councilor: Melissa Rhodes, PhD
OFFICERS’ BREAKFAST IN SEATTLE
CURRENT AND NEWLY-ELECTED OFFICERS: We will gather for the WIT Officers’ breakfast meeting in Seattle, 6:00 – 7:30am, WedMar 19, in a restaurant adjacent to the Convention Center. Restaurant ID agenda will be provided shortly!
WIT IN SEATTLE, MARCH 2008
INFORMATIONAL SEMINAR
When: Wed, Mar 19,12:00-1:20pm
CoChairs: Carol Auletta, Rae Benedict
Title: Mentoring 101 – How to Mentor, How to Be Mentored
Speakers:
Katherine Squibb(leftbelow), Research Associate Professor, and Head, Division of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore
Reitha Weeks(middle), Resident Scientist, Northwest Assnof Biomedical Research, Seattle
James Gentile(right), President, Research Corporation, Tuscon
WIT EVENING RECEPTION!
When: Wed, Mar 19, 6:00-7:30pm
Featured Program: Panel ofspeakersfrom our Informational Seminar to lead mentoring discussion
Dr. Squibbis an earlyrecipient ofthe WIT Service Recognition Award, honoring her many contributions tothe careers of women in toxicology. At NABMR, Dr. Weeks helps to generate educational materials that support learning at many levels, from grade school to career professional. She has served on many mentoring panels. Dr. Gentile has a long history of mentoring in both academic and professional settings. He has served as mentor for one of our WIT Monitoring Committee members, who is now working in the pharmaceutical industry.
We look forward to seeing you at the WIT Reception!
WIT AWARDS
NEW WIT ELSEVIER MENTORING AWARD!
Congratulations to Dr. Linda Birnbaum as the first WIT winner of the Elsevier Mentoring Award!
This award is made possible by a generous $10,000 grant from the Elsevier Foundation. Its purpose is to further the WIT mission and the mission of the Society of Toxicology.
An important mission of WIT includes mentoring to support the career growth of women in toxicology and to guide young women considering careers in toxicology.
This award rewards and encourages individuals who, by their outstanding roles as mentors, have made important contributions to women in the field of toxicology.
An award of $3,300 is presented to the winner.
WIT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Congratulations to our 2008 winners (from among 27 applicants!):
Sheung Ng, NYUMedicalCenter (left)
Kylee Eblin, U Arizona (middle)
Devon Graham, Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation(right)
The WIT Student Achievement Award recognizes SOT student members (graduate students or postdoctoral fellows) for achievements in two areas: 1) academic scholarship/research in toxicology and 2) leadership and service in their chosen field and the broader community. Winners receive an engraved plaque and cash award.
NEW WIT COMMITTEES
MENTORING COMMITTEE
Current Members:Carol Auletta (Chair), Jane S. Allen, Frances Crofts. Brinda Mahadevan, Ginger Moser, Syril D. Pettit, Laurie E. Roszell, Heather Persson, Rae Benedict, Anne H. Chappelle
Purpose: To design and maintain a mentoring network that will foster scientific and professional collaboration among toxicologists at all stages of their careers.
MONITORING & VISIBILITY COMMITTEE
Current Members:Michelle Hooth (Chair), Laura Andrews, Carol Auletta, Maryka Bhattacharyya, Linda Birnbaum, Ofelia Olivero, Melissa Rhodes, Sharmilee Sawant
Purpose: To serve as a “watchdog”, keeping track of progress (or lack of progress) in appointment and election of women to leadership positions in SOT.
SO NOW WE ARE A SIG!
As the first authorized SOT Special Interest Group (SIG), WIT is now joined by the following SIGs:
- American Association of Chinese in Toxicology
- Association of Scientists of Indian Origin
- Hispanic Organization for Toxicologists
- Korean Toxicologists Association in America
- Toxicologists of African Origin
Our WIT Officers worked hard this year to secure a strong position for the SIGs in SOT. That includes successfully arguing that the SIGs receive a fraction of registration fees for each member who attends the annual meeting, the same as the Specialty Sections. We also made it clear at a SIG meeting in Chicago that the SIGs envision both scientific and communication/interaction/minority- representation roles within the society.
WIT PROGRAM FOR 2009
We invite your suggestions for WIT-sponsored programs for the SOT 2009 Annual Meeting!
Consider:
Symposia, Continuing Education Courses, Roundtable Discussions, Informational Seminars
Come to Seattle ready to suggest what WIT can contribute to the next Annual Meeting Program, and how you would like to be involved!