The Society of Toxicologic Pathology and the “One Health” Initiative

Abstract

The ‘‘One Health’’ concept seeks to synergize medical, veterinary, and other health science disciplines to more effectively advance human and animal health. These efforts are championed by the One Health Commission (http://www. onehealthcommission.org/). A broad interdisciplinary research agenda will be created that facilitates collaborations between professional organizations involved in health research, education and practice. The chief executive officer of the new commission is Dr. Roger Mahr, past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The AVMA previously formed the One Health Task Force to ‘‘study the feasibility of an initiative that would facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration to implement One Health principles’’ (http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/). The AVMA (http://www.avma.org/onehealth/) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have both endorsed the ‘‘One Health’’ concept. More recently, a One Health Summit held in Washington, DC, included input from the Institute of Medicine and the NationalResearch Council (http://www.nationalacademies.org/newsroom). At this summit, the InstituteofMedicine announcedplans toconduct a study in 2010 to advance the ‘‘One Health’’ vision. ‘‘One Health’’ seeks to overcome the fragmentation of training and knowledge dissemination regarding such clinical entities as zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases (Kahn et al. 2007). Health science fields such as pathology and toxicology have long histories of translating comparative and correlative information among various animal species and humans. In particular, veterinary pathology and veterinary toxicology have always practiced the ‘‘One Health’’ paradigm and as a result are positioned to make significant contributions to this new initiative. The historical and current state of ‘‘One Health’’ from a veterinary medical and veterinary pathology perspective has been recently reviewed (Cardiff et al. 2008). Comparative pathology represents a fully integrated science across species, making veterinary pathologists highly qualified contributors to the ‘‘One Health’’ concept. The Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) embraces ‘‘One Health’’ in both principle and practice. The STP’s mission and vision statements clearly indicate the society’s commitment to improvement of human and animal health through an interdisciplinary scientific approach based in pathology and toxicology. In 2008 the STP Executive Committee initiated a review of the STP’s strategic plan (https:// www.toxpath.org/membersonly/StrategicPlan.pdf). All four goals of the strategic plan involve strategies to improve and expand the STP’s role in training, advocacy, and collaboration through a comparative medicine–based approach. The ‘‘Recruitment’’ goal seeks to broaden the membership base beyond veterinary professionals and to address critical workforce challenges. The ‘‘Advocacy’’ goal facilitates opportunities and collaborations with other societies to inform, educate, and dialogue across disciplines. The ‘‘Globalization’’ goal seeks a worldwide presence, influence, and impact in toxicologic pathology and public health. The ‘‘Education’’ goal focuses on providing educational opportunities through the dissemination of relevant scientific expertise and information to STP members, trainees in pathology and toxicology, and allied partner groups through presentations, publications, and scientific symposia. In practice, STP members are leaders and valued collaborators in comparative medicine disciplines, contributing to understanding mechanisms of toxicity, identification of new and novel therapeutic targets, thorough efficacy, safety and toxicity evaluations of human and animal therapeutic products, and scientifically rigorous risk assessment. The STP is committed to advancing the ‘‘One Health’’ concept to benefit human and animal health and made ‘‘Toxicologic Pathology and Its Relevance to Human Health’’ the topic of the STP’s 2014 annual scientific meeting.