NBTS Symposium: Fetal Behavior and Neurotoxicology

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks funding to support a symposium to be held on June 29th at the annual meeting of the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society (NBTS) in Monterey, CA. NBTS meets jointly with two "sister" societies, the Teratology Society (TS) and the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), whose members will also be able to attend the symposium. The symposium will describe (1) recent advances in the study of fetal behavior and of neural and behavioral aspects of the transition from prenatal to postnatal life in rodent models; (2) how these advances can serve the mission of NBTS to identify and understand the causes and mechanisms of adverse neurobehavioral development so as to prevent or treat human developmental disorders; and (3) how developmental neurotoxicity can be understood within broader epigenetic frameworks (e.g., Fetal Basis of Adult Disease, FEBAD). The symposium participants - Scott Robinson, April Ronca, and Gale Kleven - are leading experts on these topics who will be presenting their work to an audience of teratologists and developmental neurotoxicologists who are presently not aware of advances in this field. The symposium would therefore "cross fertilize" the fields of developmental psychobiology and developmental neurotoxicology in manner that is timely, innovative, and highly significant to the advancement of both basic science and public health. The symposium is timely because of the recent emergence of these methods and the many problems in neurotoxicology to which they have yet to be applied. It is innovative because it is likely to reveal new mechanisms and interventions in neurobehavioral teratology that can only be studied during the fetal and perinatal periods. It is significant to public welfare because of the growing awareness of the role that developmental and environmental factors play in psychiatric and neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, ADHD, and Parkinsonism. Finally, this symposium will bridge the gap among different communities of researchers and practitioners in a manner that is likely to foster innovative, new collaborations. An article summarizing the symposium will be invited for peer-reviewed publication in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology.