TY - JOUR
T1 - Hänninen lecture
T2 - Problems and prevention: Research in developing countries and immigrant populations from developing countries
AU - Anger, W. Kent
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by NIOSH RO1 OH04193 and UO1 OH 008108. This report is the sole responsibility of the author and does not imply endorsement by agencies funding the research. Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Dr. Anger has a significant financial interest in Northwest Education Training & Assessment, LLC, a company that may have a commercial interest in the results of this research and technology. This potential conflict was reviewed and a management plan approved by the OHSU Conflict of Interest in Research Committee was implemented.
Funding Information:
By 1984, the major figures in the field of Human Behavioral Neurotoxicology had become concerned about the rapid proliferation of test methods used in the field, and concluded that some direction was needed to ensure the creation of a consistent database of results on common tests. They assembled leading experts in this new research field in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The meeting was sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The majority of participants were from the industrialized countries, not surprisingly since that is where most of the research had been conducted, though some were from non-industrialized countries. The lead organizers were Helena Hänninen and Anna Maria Seppäläinen of Finland's Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH), Barry L. Johnson and Charlie Xintaras of NIOSH in the USA and Mostafa el Batawi of the Office of Occupational Health from WHO ( Johnson et al., 1987 ).
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Computer-based testing
KW - Human behavioral neurotoxicology
KW - Prevention
KW - Training
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34249779534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34249779534&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuro.2007.01.011
DO - 10.1016/j.neuro.2007.01.011
M3 - Article
C2 - 17408747
AN - SCOPUS:34249779534
SN - 0161-813X
VL - 28
SP - 207
EP - 214
JO - NeuroToxicology
JF - NeuroToxicology
IS - 2
ER -