President’s Newsletter Number 9: October 2021
Dear Colleagues
Just a short update from me this month as there has been a flurry of emails sent out on my behalf over the last few months in respect to vacancies and other news relevant to our members.
Since my last Newsletter, the Executive Committee have been advertising various posts and roles to support the work of the Society. It is important to ensure that there are opportunities for our members to serve on the BTS Committees and that we meet the aims of our strategic vision, https://www.thebts.org/information/strategies.
Currently we are looking to recruit a lay representative on the Public Communications Steering Team (Closing date: extended to midday on Friday 8th October 2021) and a Project Co-Ordinator (Closing Date: midday on Monday 25th October 2021) working with Industry and Academia to look at the Skills Gap in Toxicology.
- For more information on the lay member role please go here .
- For more information on the Project Co-ordinator role please refer to the job description here.
This month the Executive Committee will be meeting to undertake an annual review the 2020-2024 BTS Strategy (https://www.thebts.org/information/strategies). The Strategy will be reviewed together with the feedback we had from the Member’s Survey. I will provide further updates over the next few months on the Strategy and any further new initiatives we will be undertaking during my Presidency. One area that the Executive Committee will be working on is strengthening our work around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). There are a number of exciting areas the Executive Committee will be exploring, and I am looking forward to sharing the outcomes of our discussions in my November Newsletter.
We continue to look at ways to engage with our members by providing links to virtual webinars and workshops, advertising roles and posts of interest to our members, supporting Toxicology Research, our Society Journal, reaching out to other Societies to see how we can all work together to provide new avenues of interest to our members and helping to support members attending our Annual Conference. Please do let me know if you have any thoughts on what we can do to support you, our members Please contact me via [email protected] .
The 2022 Annual Congress will be held at the Hilton, Gateshead from the 4th -6th April 2022.Please save the date. I do hope we will see as many of you as possible at the Congress. The 2022 Annual Congress will provide a variety of cutting edge topics given by experts in their field. The Annual Congress will be a face to face meeting this year, but we will be looking to provide some aspects of the Annual Congress virtually for those unable to attend. The details of the programme will be available soon so please keep a watchful eye on the website and through emails.
I am pleased to be able to provide our members with information on some forthcoming vacancies on the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM). The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is looking to appoint eleven Commissioners to join the CHM, this includes two toxicologists. Successful candidates should be recognised by their peers and/or be Fellows of the relevant Royal Colleges. Further details on the Commissioner vacancies are available here. CHM is a statutory committee which advises UK Health Ministers / the Licensing Authority on matters relating to the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and on adverse reactions to marketed medicinal products. The Department of Health values and promotes diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity for all. The closing date for applications is midday 28th October 2021.
Our Newsfeed Editorial Team will be sending out their monthly updates next week and they welcome suggestions for news items to be included in the Newsfeed from members and non-members alike. Please contact the [email protected] if you would like to have something considered.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Heather Wallace, personally and on behalf of the BTS, for her work as the EUROTOX President. Heather stepped down at the end of her tenure at this year’s EUROTOX Congress. EUROTOX 2021 was successfully held from September 27th through to October 1st , 2021 and more than 1,200 participants from over 56 countries were E-welcomed by Professor Wallace.
Our congratulations are also due to the incoming President, Professor Felix Carvalho. The Society looks forward to its continued collaboration with EUROTOX.
As always do please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the work of the Executive Committee via [email protected] . In the meantime, thank you all for your support which I always appreciate as your President.
Your sincerely
Professor Shirley Price, President of the BTS