Abstract
It is our great pleasure to present this special issue of Toxicologic Pathology, the first ever produced as a compilation of the content delivered at the Annual Congress of the European Society of Toxicologic Pathology (ESTP). The 21st ESTP Congress in late summer of 2024 was a joint Cutting Edge Pathology congress held together with the European Society of Veterinary Pathology (ESVP) and the European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP). The ESTP part of the congress covered the fascinating topic—Neuropathology: The Vast Pink Wonderland. The congress took place in the historic monastery in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, with more than 500 participants attending the key lectures, case presentations, free communications, poster presentations, and satellite symposia.
The ESTP Neuropathology portion of the congress comprised five sessions: Neuromethods, Central Nervous System (CNS) Evaluation, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Developmental Neurotoxicity, and Recent Neuro Concepts. Each of these sessions featured engaging talks by experts from industry and academia, supplemented by interesting case studies. Preceding the ESTP Congress was a satellite symposium organized by the International Academy of Toxicologic Pathology (IATP). Aligned with the congress theme, the IATP symposium focused on the application of and regulatory confidence in new approach methods (NAMs) for chronic neurotoxicity assessment, including developmental neurotoxicology.
While it is practically impossible to recapture the energy, engagement, and in-person questions and answers that transpire at such scientific meetings, we have been fortunate to convince the speakers of the congress to capture key takeaways of their talks into individual papers, reviews, session synopses, and case studies for perusal by the wider toxicologic pathology community. This issue contains one manuscript based on the IATP satellite symposium and ten neuropathology congress manuscripts, including the keynote address titled “A Fandango of Form and Function: The Interplay between Clinical Neurology and Neuropathology Evaluation” by Dr Brad Bolon (with veterinary neurologist Dr Joe Kornegay). Also included is a synopsis of the 2023 IATP satellite symposium titled “Medical Device Safety Assessment: Pathology and Toxicology Perspective.” Finally, there is a manuscript titled “Preclinical Development and Therapeutic Applications of mRNA-based Technologies,” based on the 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting of the French Society of Toxicologic Pathology.
All the manuscripts in this issue touch upon various facets of neuropathology evaluations in preclinical safety assessment of drugs, medical devices, and chemicals. We hope these manuscripts ignite curiosity in readers and act as a catalyst for deeper exploration of the topics covered. We also believe this special issue will serve as a valuable resource for Toxicologic Pathology readers, whether they attended the meeting or not. We deeply appreciate the extra effort by all authors, diligent reviewers, editors, and production staff in bringing together this inaugural special issue.
