May 23, 2006
ESE faculty, students and research staff attended the Superfund Basic Research Program’s (SBRP) conference, “Current and Future Challenges in Environmental Health, Toxicology and Food Safety in Eastern and Central Europe” held at the L. I. Medved’s Institute of Ecohygiene and Toxicology in Kiev, Ukraine on May 2-5, 2006. This international conference brought top environmental health researchers, young scientists, students, and practitioners from North America and Western Europe together with their colleagues from Eastern and Central Europe and was represented by more than a dozen countries. Sponsors included: L.I. Medved’s Institute of Ecohygiene and Toxicology Ukrainian Toxicology Society NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Texas A&M University International Programme on Chemical Safety/World Health Organization and Syngenta Crop Protection. Attendees enjoyed accommodations on the river cruise ship “Marshal Koshevoi” which provided views of the Dnipro River. Professor Michael D. Aitken commented, “it was fun to attend a conference on a ship. Interestingly, many of the attendees from UNC got to know each other for the first time several thousand miles from home! Highlights of the trip included the 80-cent draft beer, attending the ballet at the national opera and ballet theatre in Kiev.”The focus of the conference involved four critical areas of environmental health: exposure assessment; food safety; health effects; and remediation. The goals were to discuss the magnitude, similarities, and differences in environmental and health issues associated with hazardous waste sites in their respective countries; to provide opportunities to present the best in current science practices to break down geographic barriers in exchanging ideas, thus establishing a foundation for cross-fertilization and joint projects, collaborations and partnerships in solving global environmental health problems; and to educate students and junior investigators about the breadth, depth, and importance of environmental health science research for the improvement of human health and preservation of the environment.

UNC attendees included Professors Michael D. Aitken, Louise M. Ball, Leena Nylander-French, Ivan Rusyn and James A. Swenberg. Also representing UNC were Nadia I. Georgieva, a Research Associate in the Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis, Blair Bradford, a Research Analyst in the Laboratory of Environmental Genomics and several students.

Professor Aitken sums up his experience by saying, “the conference in Kiev was rewarding both professionally and personally. Some of the presentations and discussions really brought home the significant environmental challenges faced in Eastern Europe. I also learned that there’s a big difference in the research infrastructure between the former Soviet-bloc countries and the West. They have no tradition of university-based scientific research and their academies of sciences are aging, which some perceive as an impediment to the attraction of young people to scientific careers.”

For further information please contact Rebecca Riggsbee Lloyd by email at Rebecca_Lloyd@unc.edu

 

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