Conference Overview

Why Attend the EMS Meeting?

The Environmental Mutagen Society is the primary professional society for scientists involved in understanding mechanisms of DNA repair and mutagenesis, the consequences of mutation such as cancer, and the evaluation of risk from genotoxic agents for mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, or birth defects and other disorders. The Society, and the Annual Meeting, are unique in bringing together scientists carrying out basic research with those involved in risk estimation and regulatory concerns related to the consequences of exposure to environmental and pharmaceutical agents. The result is a dynamic meeting that is sufficiently large enough to cover a broad range of contemporary topics yet focused and small enough to facilitate interactions between students and renowned scientists in academia, government, and industry.

The theme of the EMS 39th Annual Meeting is "Genes and the Environment: From Molecular Mechanisms to Risk." The broad objective of the meeting is to provide a forum for integrating cutting-edge basic research in DNA repair, mechanisms of mutagenesis, and epigenetic regulation in response to environmental genotoxic agents with translational research, risk assessment, and regulatory concerns. Such cross-disciplinary integration is a unique strength of the EMS and is critically important for resolution of societal issues involving genotoxicity from environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility. This meeting will also have a strong emphasis on networking opportunities for Latin American scientists with colleagues from Canada and the U.S., including Puerto Rico, as well as major educational and student outreach components.

The 2008 EMS Annual Meeting offers very special opportunities for collaboration and networking. Given the resort venue in Puerto Rico and the unique opportunities of the destination, EMS has decided to depart from the standard meeting schedule for this meeting. Each day except the last will include an afternoon "fun-in-the-sun" break to allow attendees to enjoy the beautiful tropical environment with their colleagues, with scientific sessions in the morning, late afternoon, and evening. Symposia, plenary lectures, topical reviews, workshops, and contributed poster and platform sessions will provide the latest information covering the range of scientific interests within the EMS.

EMS invites you to join your colleagues in Puerto Rico, and hopes that you will enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and beautiful location while renewing old friendships and making new acquaintances.

Conference Overview

Scientific Sessions will be held in the morning until Noon each day. On Sunday and Monday, the science will resume at 4:00 PM with a break for dinner at 6:15 PM. Plenary Lectures have been scheduled on those days for 7:30 PM, followed by poster sessions and exhibits from 8:30 PM–10:30 PM. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Plenary Lectures are part of the morning scientific sessions. Following the mid-day Business Meeting, Tuesday afternoon is free up to the evening banquet, and an optional tour to historic Old San Juan will be offered. Platform sessions are on Tuesday and Wednesday, and two Topical Reviews are scheduled on Wednesday morning. Wednesday features a full day of scientific sessions, with adjournment at 5:30 PM.

The scientific program will include 16 symposia, four Plenary Lectures, two topical reviews, four workshops, two poster sessions, and four platform sessions. The latter will feature short talks selected from among the submitted abstracts. An "extra" Saturday poster session is designed to foster interactions between students and new investigators and their more seasoned colleagues and is integrated with a welcome reception. The student poster session will be immediately preceded by a workshop devoted to mentoring that will kickoff a new EMS mentoring program developed during the past year to nurture students, postdocs, and early career investigators in the environmental health sciences. A Sunday noon workshop will be the forum for the newly organized group "Women in the Environmental Mutagen Society" (WEMS) and will feature a prominent speaker on issues of particular relevance to women in science. A special feature of this year’s meeting, in recognition of the unique opportunities presented by the Puerto Rican venue, will be a symposium on "Global Health in the Americas: The Impact of the Environment" that showcases Latin American environmental science. It will feature outstanding speakers of Latin American origin and will serve as a focus for networking opportunities and development of collaborations between U.S., Canadian, and Latin American scientists working in environmental genetic toxicology and related areas.

The program represents the full spectrum of strengths of our uniquely multi-disciplinary Society and includes something for everyone. The detailed agenda and information about the meeting are located under the Meeting Agenda. We invite you to experience the friendly and warm culture of EMS in Puerto Rico.

Important Dates to Remember