A growing number of scientists––including toxicologists, pharmacologists, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, occupational and environmental medical researchers and others––have begun to show considerable interest in the topic of hormesis, a dose–response phenomenon characterized by a low-dose stimulation and a high-dose inhibition. Whereas there are many professional societies that have a general interest in dose–response relationships, none explicitly is devoted to the topic of understanding the nature of the dose–response curve in general and hormesis in particular.
The diversity of professional societies that may consider dose–response issues, including hormesis, is nonetheless quite broad––ranging from the agricultural to the biomedical and clinical sciences. However, almost without exception, these societies tend to be strongly organized around professional advancement and not focused on specific scientific concepts. This makes the issue of hormesis one of diffuse interest across a broad range of professions. The present situation represents a major obstacle for the integrated assessment of the dose–response in general and hormesis in particular. In order to provide intellectual and research leadership on the topic of hormesis, a professional
association was created in 2005 called the International Dose-Response Society.
The Society is dedicated to the enhancement, exchange, and dissemination of ongoing global research efforts in the field of hormesis. In addition, the Society also strongly encourages the assessment of the implications of hormesis for such diverse fields as toxicology, risk assessment, risk communication, medicine, numerous areas of biomedical research, and all other biological disciplines including relevant engineering domains dealing with the dose response. Attached is an announcement about a Conference titled “Preconditioning and Building Biological Shields” on April 19-20, 2016, at University of Massachusetts at Amherst.