Happy Lunar New Year to all of you!

Published on: 08-02-2016

Dear TIAFT Friends,

Isn’t it amazing to wish you Happy New Year twice in only two-months time? On Feb. 8th we will celebrate the Lunar New Year here in Korea. We consider this date as the real New Year. A tradition that you might find interesting is that we Korean’s all eat a special rice cake soup in the morning to bring good fortune for the coming year and on the same day we all become one year older. For us it is a very symbolic moment. If you want to get one year older, please come to Korea and have rice cake soup with us sometime. By the way, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

We could also call it the Year of the Koala because we will have our 2016 Annual Meeting in Brisbane, Australia. Here are some important dates and details that you need to be aware of:

Aug. 28 – Sept. 1: TIAFT Annual Meeting
I am very excited that we will have another highly beneficial meeting in the Southern Hemisphere. We are going to have a great time meeting each other, sharing ideas, and enjoying Australian hospitality in the beautiful city of Brisbane. Make every effort to be there. You do not want to miss it.
March 28: Abstract Submission Deadline
It is time for us to prepare our papers. Get started on your papers early, submit your best work, and make a big impact.
April 22: Early Bird Registration
April 30: Travel Grant Registration
Great News! The Board has decided to provide $3,000 USD plus free registration as a travel grant, because of the travel distance to Australia. Information is available on the website and we are looking forward to receiving many applications.

Regarding the regional meeting, as I previously mentioned, the first regional meeting in South Africa will be held in May in Cape Town and it will be a great opportunity for us to promote TIAFT to toxicologists in that very important region.

The TIAFT Bulletin was produced this week. It will be available online and it will be posted for you very soon. I greatly appreciate those who contributed articles including: Wayne Jones, Marciej Bogusz and Dimitri Gerostamoulos. Thanks to their excellent contributions, it was possible for us to produce the Bulletin. On behalf of TIAFT, I would like to take an opportunity to thank them. Thank you gentlemen! Thank you Jochen and Dimitri.

Last month, I went to the USA to attend Marilyn Huestis’s retirement ceremony. However, due to a serious snowstorm, the ceremony was unfortunately cancelled. I was very disappointed, but luckily I managed to meet her for a short time just before the full force of the blizzard began. As nearly all of us know, she worked for 23 years at the NIDA, produced 402 papers and became one the most renowned Toxicologists in the world. We are very lucky to have had her as our former president. It is great to know that she promised to be active in the field even after retiring. I sincerely congratulate her for her great achievements and for her dedication to TIAFT. I am informed that her new retirement ceremony will be held in April. Congratulations Marilyn. We are proud of you.

To conclude I wish you all the best in this New Year.
Sincerely,

Dr. Heesun Chung, President