Predicting Future Human and Environmental Health Challenges: The Health and Environmental Sciences Institute's Scientific Mapping Exercise

To predict important strategic issues in product safety during the next 10 years, the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) of the International Life Sciences Institute initiated a mapping exercise to evaluate which issues are likely to be of societal, scientific, and regulatory importance to regulatory authorities, the HESI membership, and the scientific community at large. Scientists representing government, academia, and industry participated in the exercise. Societal issues identified include sensitive populations, alternative therapies, public education on the precautionary principle, obesity, and aging world populations. Scientific issues identified include cancer testing, children's health, mixtures and co-exposures, sensitive populations, idiosyncratic reactions, “omics” or bioinformatics, and environmental toxicology. Regulatory issues identified include national and regional legislation on chemical safety, exposure inputs, new technologies, transitioning new science into regulations...