Abstract
For this month’s Editor’s Note, the Editor-in-Chief Dr Genter would like to draw your attention to our updated submission guidelines, which now include guidance for submission of papers dealing with natural products. For other more entertaining and informative prose, Dr Genter is turning the pen over to Dr Grace M. Furman to provide a context for the article by Susan van Tongeren et al.
The American College of Toxicology (ACT) and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) have benefited from an informal affiliation for several years. A number of STP members are regular attendees of ACT annual meetings and are, in fact, active members of ACT as well. Both organizations share a common mission of educating professionals in industry, government, and academia. Three examples of STP’s support of ACT’s educational mission are the well-attended series of STP-sponsored pathology-themed Continuing Education courses offered at annual ACT meetings, the recurring Toxicology for Non-pathologists course offered jointly by ACT and STP since 2004, and the article which appears on pages 568-582 of this issue of International Journal of Toxicology titled “The Role of the Toxicologist Pathologist in the Biopharmaceutical Industry.” A recent example of ACT’s support of STP’s educational mission is the ACT-sponsored Continuing Education course titled “Interacting with Regulatory Authorities: What to Do and What Not to Do,” offered at the STP’s 30th Annual Symposium held in June 2011. This course represented the first ACT-sponsored Continuing Education course offered at an STP Annual Symposium. Another ACT-sponsored Continuing Education course is being planned for STP’s 31st Annual Symposium. Additionally, ACT’s recurring “Toxicology for Industrial and Regulatory Scientists” course is being leveraged as an opportunity to provide basic training in regulatory toxicology to colleagues trained in toxicologic pathology.
To facilitate and foster the ongoing bridge-building efforts between the 2 professional societies, cross-society liaisons were identified at the 2009 ACT Annual Meeting in Palm Springs. Both ACT and STP leaders Dave Serota and Jerry Hardisty, respectively, conspired prior to the meeting to propose the liaison role to Dan Patrick (STP) and myself (ACT) over drinks at an evening mixer. Honored at the prospect of serving our respective societies (and also because it is almost impossible to say no to Dave and Jerry while they are standing right in front of you!), Dan and I accepted the informal appointments and have enjoyed collaborating over the past 2 years as ACT/STP liaisons. The role of ACT/STP liaison is neither formally appointed nor elected, and profiles for these reciprocating roles have not (yet) been drafted. Nevertheless, it is the intention of both societies that liaisons will work together to foster ongoing cross-society educational endeavors and to seek additional opportunities for ACT and STP to collaborate in serving and educating their respective memberships.