New Course at Woods Hole, Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Hazards and Opportunities (ECHO)

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ECHO course

This new, NIEHS-funded two-week immersive lab/lecture course on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is designed for advanced graduate students, postdocs, and clinicians, as well as faculty transitioning into the area. The innovative course format is designed to provide an integrated, progressive understanding of fundamental EDC concepts, the latest information and best tools for understanding human health risks posed by EDCs, and emerging strategies for building an EDC-free environment.

The course will be held from the evening of May 25 through the morning of June 9, 2022 at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. On-campus housing and dining are provided at the MBL and significant financial aid is available. The MBL application portal will close Jan 25, 2022. Decisions, admissions information, and financial aid details will be available to applicants by the end of February 2022.

Co-directors for the course are Patricia A. Hunt (Washington State University) and Joan V. Ruderman (Princeton University). Core faculty include Laura Vandenberg (UMass Amherst), Heather Patisaul (NC State), Terry Collins (Carnegie Mellon University), Mónica Colaiácovo (Harvard Medical School), Scott Belcher (NC State), Genoa Warner (New Jersey Institute of Technology), and Amy Kostant (Science Communication Network).

Lectures, hands-on labs and discussion topics will provide integration of science across key areas, including assays and chemical screening, experiments using mouse, C. elegans, and other model systems, the placenta and fetal exposure, morphometric analysis of endocrine organs, EDCs and behavior, hazard assessment, endocrine disruptor science and federal regulation, new strategies for safer chemical design, and sharpening critical communications skills.

This course will be held annually. More information.