Toxicogenomics through the eyes of informatics: conference overview and recommendations

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, in conjunction with National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, hosted a conference, "Toxicogenomics through the Eyes of Informatics," in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, on 12-13 May 2003. Researchers around the world met to discuss how the application of bioinformatics tools, methodologies, and technologies will enhance our understanding of how cells and organisms respond to toxins. Conference topics included statistical methods, quantitative molecular data sets, computational algorithms for data analysis, computational modeling and simulation, challenges and opportunities in computational biology, and information technology infrastructure for data and tool management. This meeting report is a summary of conference presentations, survey results, current toxicogenomics concerns, and future directions of the toxicogenomics community. In conclusion this report discusses toxicogenomics as related to environmental agents, cell-chemical reactions, and gene-environment interactions.