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Highlights of ASTS Activities Ideation: 20 scientists attending 1998 SOT meeting in Seattle, Washington. ASTS was born in March 1999 in New Orleans. Follow up general assembly annual meetings were held at : Philadelphia, (2000), San Francisco (2001), Salt Lake City (2002), Nashville (2003), 2001 - 1st workshop in Accra, Ghana (January 2001)
2003 - Satellite meeting of ASTS members and advisors in Salt Lake City, to discuss previous achievements and the future direction of the association
- Third International ASTS Conference Abuja Nigeria April 22-27, 2003, Main sponsor was the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
2004 - ASTS Mini-symposium (March 23, 2004), Baltimore, MD. Theme: “Sustainable Development and the Management of Industrial Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals in Africa”. Sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Research Triangle Park, USA, Keynote Speaker: Dora N. Akunyili, Ph.D., Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Nigeria . Other speakers were Edmond Creppy, Ph.D, Christopher Schonwalder, Ph.D., Senior Environmental Health Advisor to the Director Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Health, - Research opportunities for supporting collaborative research with developing country investigators, and Peter Spencer, Ph.D., Director, Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology and Advisor to ASTS.
2005 - Conference at the Hilton Riverside Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Theme: “Emerging Health and Environmental Adverse Effects of Pharmaceuticals and Industrial Chemicals and the Need for Good Regulatory Policy in Africa.” The keynote speaker was John O’Donoghue, DVM, PhD, DABT, former Director of Health and Environmental Laboratories of Eastman Kodak Co. Representatives for SETAC and SOT participated
- Recognized as a Special Interest Group by SOT
- Meeting of Stakeholders to discuss path for ASTS
- Travel awards to 3 African scientists to attend the Society of Toxicology annual meeting. The awardees were:
- Prof. Isaac U. Asuzu, Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology, presented paper titled ‘Alternative treatment of snakebites from plant-extracts used in folklore medicinal practices in Nigeria.’ University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria
- Dr. Orish E. Orisakwe, Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi, Nigeria, presented poster titled ‘HEAVY METAL EXPOSURE FROM HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS IN NIGERIA.’
- Dr. Balarabe Magaji Jahun, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Nigeria presented poster titled ‘EFFICACY OF PIROXICAM IN ALLEVIATING TETRACYCLINE-INDUCED MUSCLE DAMAGE.’
2006 - Conference at the Marriot Hotel & Marina, San Diego, California. Theme of Conference: “The Millennium Development Goals and the role of toxicologists and environmental health scientists”. The keynote Speaker: Dr. Gerald Fisher, Senior Vice President, Wyeth, who presentation on: Moxidectin Safety and Efficacy Studies for the Elimination of River Blindness in Africa, A WHO/Wyeth Collaboration.
- Two travel grants awarded to attend the SOT meeting in San Diego:
- Eric Banseka Tungla, Department of Biochemistry, University of Yaounde I, , Cameroon., presented poster titled, TOXICITY RISK ASSESSMENT OF CARICA PAPAYA LEAVES AQUEOUS EXTRACT IN ALBINO RATS (RATTUS NOVEGICUS).
- Mamadou Fall Laboratory of Toxicology and Hydrology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.presented poster titled MUTAGENICITY OF BENZYL CHLORIDE IN THE AMES TEST DEPENDS ON EXPOSURE CONDITIONS
- Sponsored abstract from African-based scientists Orisakwe, O. E; Maduabuchi , J. M. Toxicology Unit, Department of Pharmacology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi, Nigeria, titled LEAD AND CADMIUM EXPOSURES FROM CANNED AND NON-CANNED BEVERAGES IN NIGERIA: A PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN
- International Conference: Risk Assessment and Quality Assurance Training Workshop, 21–28 October 2006 in Limbe, Cameroon. Honorary Conference Chair, Dr. Ken Olden. Forty seven participants from Cameroon, Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa, the United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Belgium. Conference led to the formation of the Cameroon Society for Toxicological Sciences (CSTS). Several organizations including NIEHS, IUTOX, SQA, British Society of Toxicology, LHASA and Wyeth, sponsored and participated in the workshop.
African Professionals Group Portrait
Proceedings of workshop published in Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 115, Number 5, May 2007:
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2007/115-5/niehsnews.html
2007 - Conference at the Westin Hotel, Charlotte, North Carolina. Conference Theme: “Working Together to Promote Hazard Identification and Influence Environmental Policies and Regulations in Africa.”
- Spearheaded the formation of the Toxicologists of African Origin Special Interest Group with SOT.
- Worked with National Library of Medicine on the World Library Project
2008 - Informational Session at the SOT conference. Session Title: “Toxicological and Public Health Challenges in Africa.” Speakers included Ken Olden, Peter Spencer, Edmund Creppy, and Abdel Kadry
- Coordinated the selection of TAO pioneer officers and the rollout of TAO.
- Three travel grants were awarded to Lyndy McGaw from South Africa, Gerard Ngueta from Belgium and Evans Afriyie-Gyawu from Texas A&M University, to attend the SOT meeting in Seattle, Washington
In its 10 years of existence, ASTS has sponsored 8 scientists to attend SOT meetings in the US at a cost of more than $20,000. This cost is in addition to those invested in organizing conferences in Africa and the US. |
