Hänninen lecture: problems and prevention: research in developing countries and immigrant populations from developing countries.
The tradition of this excellent Triennial International Symposium, now in its Ninth gathering, has focused first on methods and later on effects in neurotoxicology. I respectfully suggest that it is time to add prevention to our agenda in order to focus not just on finding problems, but also on solving them. Otherwise our research runs the risk of making conditions worse for the participants because we inform them they have a problem but do not show them how to prevent that problem. Many barriers have been surmounted since the early days of this Symposium. Methods developed in industrialized nations have been modified and used in populations with limited education. Now, the primary barriers to effective collaborations are institutional. Perhaps the most challenging are companies that can bar a research study, or may welcome the opportunity to safeguard their workforce. A focus on prevention can increase the willingness of institutions, including companies, to accept and support research that examines neurotoxic effects of chemical exposures. This is because we are offering positive value, not simply uncovering a problem for them to fix. The cTRAIN software program is an illustration of a computer-based training method developed by neurotoxicologists that has been implemented in a variety of populations. This includes those from a developing country with limited education and those with college degrees. Training can provide prevention, can easily be appended to any neurotoxicology research study and is well within the skill set of the neurotoxicology community of scientists.
Anger
W Kent
WK
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road L606, Portland, OR 97239, USA. anger@ohsu.edu
D001519:Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009462:Neurology / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D020258:Neurotoxicity Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D015588:Observer Variation; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000592:standards; D014116:Toxicology / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods*
D004785:Environmental Pollutants