Plenary Lectures

Stephen Safe is a prominent environmental toxicologist and biochemist known for his groundbreaking research on the mechanisms of action of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and their effects on human health and the environment. He has dedicated his career to understanding the biochemical pathways influenced by these toxic compounds and has played a significant role in advancing the field of environmental health sciences and he is currently involved in developing mechanism-based anticancer drugs. He has gained recognition for his contributions to the field of toxicology, particularly concerning the mechanisms through which POPs affect endocrine and reproductive systems. Professor Safe’s research has been pivotal in elucidating the complex interactions between environmental contaminants and biological systems. He has extensively studied the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway, a critical signaling mechanism that mediates the effects of various POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. His work has revealed how these compounds disrupt endocrine function and contribute to developmental and reproductive toxicity. His research and that of his over 100 doctoral students have garnered numerous citations and have had a lasting impact on the field, influencing both academic research and regulatory policies concerning toxic substances. Beyond his research and teaching responsibilities, Professor Safe has been actively involved in numerous professional organizations related to toxicology and environmental science. He has served as a member of various advisory boards and committees, contributing his expertise to national and international initiatives aimed at addressing environmental health challenges. Dr. Safe has also been a prominent figure in several scientific societies, including the Society of Toxicology, and the American Society for Molecular Biology. His leadership in these organizations has helped shape research priorities and policies related to environmental health.

Kei, a Senior Coordination Officer at the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, coordinates activities related to plastics and industrial chemicals under the BRS conventions. She also oversees the scientific and technical work of the conventions subsidiary bodies, the POPs Review Committee and the Chemical Review Committee, facilitating the review of new chemicals proposed for listing under the Conventions. Her expertise includes risk assessment, chemicals and waste management, inventory development, national action plans, science-policy interface, and environmental monitoring. She recently coordinated the publication titled ‘Global Governance of Plastics and Associated Chemicals’. Kei holds a Ph.D. in environmental analytical chemistry.

Derek Muir is a distinguished environmental scientist with over four decades of experience in research and policy regarding persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and their impact on ecosystems and human health. He recently retired from Environment and Climate Change Canada, where he served as a senior research scientist for many years, and he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at University of Toronto and University of Guelph. Derek's scientific interests focus broadly on the environmental chemistry and biogeochemistry of persistent organic contaminants, mercury and other metals. His research has focused on understanding bioaccumulation and bioavailability of contaminants in the aquatic and terrestrial environments in the Arctic and in the Great Lakes. In addition to his research Dr. Muir has been an active participant in numerous scientific advisory committees and expert working groups. He was awarded the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Founder’s Award in 2000 for work on persistent organic pollutants, and the Weston Family Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Northern Research in 2018 for work on Arctic contaminants. He is a SETAC Fellow and a Fellow of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada. He is author or co-author of over 700 peer reviewed papers, book chapters, and assessment reports.

Terry Bidleman is an environmental-analytical chemist and an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Umeå University. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, followed by postdocs at Dalhousie University, Canada, and the University of Rhode Island. Before coming to Umeå, he was Professor of Chemistry and Marine Science at University of South Carolina, and then a Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. Terry’s research involves persistent organic pollutants (POPs), halogenated natural products (HNPs) and other chemicals of concern, with applications to transport and fate in polar regions, large lakes and seas, and air-surface exchange (air-water, air-soil, particle-gas). He has been a leader in the use of chiral compounds to trace their environmental fate and air-surface exchange processes, development of high volume sampling techniques for semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and chromatographic methods to determine physicochemical properties of SVOCs. He has published over 260 articles on environmental and analytical chemistry in refereed journals and book chapters and is a frequent contributor to assessment reports of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). Terry was honoured as a co- recipient (with James Pankow) of the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science Technology for work on the particle-gas distribution of organic compounds, and the Head of the Public Service of Canada Award as part of a team that supported negotiations for the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

İpek İmamoğlu is an environmental engineer who received her B.S. degree from the Middle East Technical University (METU), Türkiye, followed by an M.S. degree from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA. She is currently a Professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering at METU. Her research, funded by agencies such as NSF, EU and TÜBİTAK focuses on investigation of fate of organic pollutants such as PCBs, PBDEs, HBCDD in Türkiye via both sampling and modeling studies; specifically, the identification and apportionment of sources using receptor modeling such as chemical mass balance, positive matrix factorization, as well as identification and quantification of degradation pathways of POPs using customized models. Her more recent work focuses on sorption interaction of organic compounds with pristine and aged microplastics via empirical and modeling studies (i.e., poly parameter linear free energy relationships). Professor İmamoğlu has also actively participated in consultancy work for the government through projects funded by IPA and GEF, implemented by UN bodies such as UNIDO and UNDP. She helped capacity building in relation to POPs, as well as policy development in regards to the Stockholm Convention, management of PCBs, POPs and contaminated sites.