Anger W Kent
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road L606, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
Neurotoxicology. 2007 Mar;28(2):207-14. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2007.01.011. Epub 2007 Feb 2.
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.
这一卓越的三年一度国际研讨会如今已举办至第九届，其传统先是聚焦于神经毒理学的方法，而后是影响。我恭敬地提议，是时候将预防纳入我们的议程了，以便不仅关注发现问题，还关注解决问题。否则，我们的研究有可能让参与者的状况变得更糟，因为我们告知他们有问题，却未向他们展示如何预防该问题。自本研讨会早期以来，许多障碍已被克服。工业化国家开发的方法已被修改并应用于教育程度有限的人群。如今，有效合作的主要障碍是制度性的。或许最具挑战性的是那些能够禁止一项研究、或者可能欢迎有机会保护其员工的公司。关注预防可以提高包括公司在内的各机构接受并支持研究化学暴露神经毒性影响的研究的意愿。这是因为我们提供的是积极价值，而不仅仅是为他们发现一个需要解决的问题。cTRAIN软件程序就是神经毒理学家开发的一种基于计算机的培训方法的例证，该方法已在各种人群中实施。这包括来自教育程度有限的发展中国家的人群以及拥有大学学位的人群。培训可以提供预防措施，能够轻松附加到任何神经毒理学研究中，并且完全在神经毒理学科学家群体的技能范围内。
