From the 19th - 21st April, I chaired the Nanotoxicology 2007 Conference, held in San Servolo, Venice. This was the second year of the conference, which was originally founded via collaboration between a number of eminent Nanotoxicologists and the publishers Taylor and Francis. Keen to follow the huge success of the first conference (held in Boston in 2006), I spent many months helping to orchestrate the proceedings.

 

 

The meeting took place on the Island of San Servolo over three days, from the 19th – 21st April. During this time we saw a range of data covering numerous topics presented by European, American and Asian scientists. For me, there were a few presentations at the meeting which were particularly memorable. The first was that of Ken Donaldson, who presented a clear and concise overview of the main issues surrounding Nanotoxicology and the lie of the research landscape today. The second was Tobias Stoeger of the GSF Center for Environment and Health in Germany. His clear presentation on The Cause of Particle Related Oxidative Stress was to me an excellent demonstration of the relationship between oxidative potency and surface area of carbonaceous nanoparticles. Lastly, the presentations of the Chinese delegates attending the conference provided an invaluable overview of recent Research and Development activities in China.

 

 

The variety of work presented provided the nanotoxicology community a broad overview of fellow scientists' work, and the pleasant surroundings of Venice allowed great networking between researchers and peers. I think the diversity was also very important for the younger scientists present, as it both introduced them to a topic which is undoubtedly going to be important for their professional futures, and allowed them to meet and network with other scientists of the same age, who will form the next generation of researchers in the field.

 

 

As part of the proceedings, Taylor and Francis took the opportunity to officially launch the Nanotoxicology Journal, edited by Professor Vicki Stone. The event was marked by an evening reception and meal on the Island, and was enjoyed by all.

 

 

The conference itself was very well attended, and there were unique opportunities for EU and US attendees to compare their latest results, and hear up to date news on policy from the USA (courtesy of Dr Sally Tinkle) and the EU Commission (Dr Pilar Aguar). I think it is clear from the results presented so far, that the next logical step is to utilise the toxicology and ecotoxicology knowledge we have gained so far to begin building Risk Assessment protocols for use by industry, government and academia producing and using nanoparticles.

 

 

Although the conference was packed into three days which often ran up to 10 hours, most of the attendees also found time to enjoy the spectacular local scenery, and enjoy the Venetian culture and great food!

 

 

My position as chair of this and the previous Nanotoxicology conference make me very aware that it is impossible to please everybody all of the time, and I think for next year I would like to see a heavier engagement with the ecotoxicology community, as this is an area which is becoming increasingly important. In addition, organising the conference would really have been impossible without the help of  'Veneto Nanotech', the cluster of Nanotechnology Industries in the Venice who helped hugely with the logistics of setting up the event, and our sponsor, the Joint Research Council (JRC) - I would like to extend my thanks to both.

 

 

Overall, I was proud that Nanotoxicology 2007 proved to be a success, and especially pleased with the high quality of the work presented, and the atmosphere achieved through the location we chose.

 

 

The next Nanotoxicology conference, Nanotoxicology 2008, is envisaged to be in Zurich. SAFENANO will of course keep you posted with updates about how plans are progressing for this.

 

 

The presentations from Nanotoxicology 2007 are now accessible via the Nanotoxicology website - please click here to access these.

 

There are also a selection of Blogs, and a set of Photographs documenting the Conference in the SAFENANO Community.