March 16-20, 2008
Washington State Convention and Trade Center
Seattle, WA
Schedule of Newsworthy Events

Monday, March 17

1:30 – 4:15 p.m.  Environmental Influence on Female Puberty and Breast Tumorigenesis

Is there a connection between the environment, early female puberty and breast cancer? Scientific reports suggest there is.  The aim of this session is to present the latest findings relating early environmental exposures with alterations in pubertal milestones that predispose breast cancer.

Chairpersons: Elizabeth Maull, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC and Carol Lamartiniere, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

1:30 – 4:30 p.m.  Air Pollution and Childhood Asthma

The problem of childhood asthma is serious—and growing.  It is a major public health problem of increasing concern in the United States.  The purpose of this session is to bring together the most current basic and applied research on the influence of ozone on the development of the lung.

Chairpersons: Laura Van Winkle, University of California Davis, Davis, CA and Jack Harkema, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

1:30 – 4:15 p.m.  Future Paths for Puget Sound

The future of one of the most ecologically diverse and environmentally sensitive areas of Washington State will be discussed at this informational session by a panel of outstanding experts from Seattle, Olympia and LaConner, WA as well as Triangle Park, NC and Boston, MA. 

Introductory speaker: Martha Kongsgaard, vice chair of the Leadership Council for the newly formed Washington state agency called the Puget Sound Partnership

Tuesday, March 18

7:30 – 8:50 a.m.  Toxic Pet Food and Nephropathy in Dogs and Cats

Last year, a major producer of pet foods had to issue a recall for 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food products because affected food may have contributed to kidney failure in dogs and cats.    This led to a condition called nephropathy, which refers to damage to or disease of the kidney.  The roundtable session will present the latest findings into the investigation of toxic pet food.

Chairpersons: Jim Riviere, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC and Ramesh Gupta, Murray State University, Hopkinsville, KY

7:30 - 8:50 a.m. Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Medications in Children: Efficacy, Safety and Use

Parents in the U.S. spend around $500 million annually to purchase 95 million boxes containing almost four billion doses of over-the-counter (OTC) pediatric cough and cold products, despite the absence of any published evidence that they are effective. The efficacy, safety and use of OTC cough and cold medications will be the topic of discussion at this special Roundtable Session.

Chairpersons: Charles Vincent Smith of Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute and Sid Nelson of the University of Washington in Seattle.

9:00 – 11:45 a.m.  New Concepts in the Etiology of Breast Cancer: From Genes to Environment and Back Again

This session brings together the leading experts in breast cancer research who will present new research that provides important new insights into the etiology of breast cancer.

Chairpersons: David Eaton, University of Washington, Seattle, WA and Stephen Safe, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

1:30 – 4:15 p.m.  Human Health Risk Assessment for Pharmaceuticals in the Environment

Numerous studies have documented the presence of low levels of mixtures of emerging contaminants, including human and veterinary medicines, in surface water.  These findings are gaining increasing attention.  The possible risk of pharmaceuticals in the environment (PIE) is the subject of this Roundtable Session.

Chairpersons: Daniel Caldwell of Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, NJ, and Hal Zenick from the U.S. EPA in Research Triangle Park, NC.

# # #