Developmental Toxicology

DEBORAH K. HANSEN is a research biologist in the Division of Genetic and Reproductive Toxicology, the National Center for Toxicological Research, Jefferson and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Interdisciplinary Toxicology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. She received her M.S. in genetics from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa and her Ph.D. in medical genetics from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Dr. Hansen is a member of both the Teratology Society, of which she is Secretary, and the Society of Toxicology. She has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications on the subjects of reproductive toxicology, embryotoxicity, and developmental toxicology. BARBARA D. ABBOTT is Research Biologist in the Reproductive Toxicology Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. She received both her M.S. and Ph.D. in toxicology from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Dr. Abbott is a member of the Teratology Society and the Society of Toxicology. She is Associate Editor of Toxicological Sciences and serves on the editorial board of Reproductive Toxicology. Dr. Abbott has also received several Scientific and Technological Achievement awards from the U.S. EPA and has been a frequent invited lecturer at international meetings and symposiums. Her main area of interest is developmental toxicity, particularly complex, interactive signal transduction and receptor-mediated pathways.

1. Role of Apoptosis in Normal and Abnormal Development. 2. Signal transduction pathways as targets for teratogens. 3. Nutrition in Developmental Toxicology. 4. Epigenetic Mechanisms-Role of DNA Methylation, Histone Modifications and Imprinting. 5. Personalized Nutrition and Medicine in Perinatal Development. 6. Targeted Gene changes affecting Developmental Toxicity. 7. Use of mammalian in vitro systems, including embryonic stem cells, in developmental toxicity testing. 8. Zebrafish: a Non-Mammalian Model of Developmental Toxicology. 9. Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling in the risk assessment of developmental toxicants. 10. Integration of whole animal developmental toxicity data into risk assessment. 11. Genomic Approaches in Developmental Toxicology. 12. Comparative Bioinformatics and Computational Toxicology. 13. Investigating Drug Effects in Human Pregnancy.