Bruce A. Beutler, MD

Bruce A. Beutler, MD, is a regental professor and director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He received his MD from the University of Chicago in 1981. As a postdoctoral associate at Rockefeller University (1983–1986), he isolated mouse tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and discovered its importance as a mediator of inflammation. Subsequently at University of Texas Southwestern he analyzed mammalian responses to bacterial lipopolysac-charide. This work culminated in the discovery of Toll-like receptors as key sensors of the innate immune system, capable of detecting infection within minutes of the time the host is inoculated with microbes. In further studies, Beutler has used a forward genetic strategy to elucidate many aspects of mammalian immunity. He received numerous awards for his work, among them the Balzan Prize (2007), the Albany Medical Center Prize (2009), the Shaw Prize (2011), and election to the US National Academy of Sciences (2008), the Institute of Medicine (2008), and EMBO. In 2011, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for “discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.”

The Society is pleased to recognize Dr. Beutler as a 2013 SOT Honorary member.

Jeremy K. Nicholson, PhD

Jeremy K. Nicholson, PhD, has won many accolades and international prizes for his work, which spans three decades, and is the author of over 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers and many other articles/patents on the development and application of novel spectroscopic and systems biology approaches to the investigation of disturbed metabolic processes in complex organisms. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010 and currently holds honorary professorships at eight overseas universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is on the editorial board of eight international scientific journals. He is head of the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London. He is also a consultant for many pharmaceutical/ healthcare companies in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, and is a founder director of Metabometrix, an Imperial College spin-off company specializing in molecular phenotyping, clinical diagnostics, and toxicological screening via metabonomics and metabolomics.

The Society is pleased to recognize Dr. Nicholson as a 2013 SOT Honorary member.

Wei Xu, PhD

Wei Xu, PhD, is awarded the 2013 SOT Achievement Award.

Dr. Xu is associate professor of oncology, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Xu received her BS degree in chemistry from Beijing University, China, in 1991; MS degree in biophysics from the Institute of Biophysics, Beijing, China; and PhD degree in biochemistry from the University of Iowa in 1999. Her research interests are epigenetic transcriptional control in breast cancer, with specific interest centered on a protein arginine (R) methyltransferase CARM1/ PRMT4, a nuclear hormone receptor coactivator, as well as histone H3 methylation by CARM1 potentiates target gene activation by ER. The central focus of Dr. Xu’s lab is to analyze the estrogen receptor (ER) regulatory network, define the role(s) and functions of ERα/β homo/hetero dimers, and translate the research outcomes into a better understanding of how environmental estrogens might influence breast cancer outcomes and therapies. Her studies currently address biologically important unanswered questions about the mechanisms and regulation of hormone signaling and she has approached this topic with creativity, vision, and tenacity. To this end, Dr. Xu’s lab pioneered the study of ERs in dimer forms and their differential effects in different biological contexts. In order to study ER dimers, Dr. Xu developed novel bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assays that allow for high- throughput screening and identification of environmental ligands that selectively induce ERα/β heterodimers. Using those ligands as tools, she was able to show that ERα/β is growth inhibitory in breast cancer cells when both ERs are coexpressed.

The University of Wisconsin has recognized Dr. Xu’s early achievements with two awards, a Vilas Associate Professorship and a Rush Basic Research Award at the UW-Comprehensive Cancer Center Retreat. Additionally, she has been highlighted in the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Spotlight (2008) and has been recognized with a Shaw Scientist Award, a UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee collaborative that provides additional funding to up-and-coming researchers in the biomedical sciences. She additionally has received one of three Department of Defense Era of Hope awards in 2010.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Xu with the 2013 SOT Achievement Award.

Moiz Mumtaz, PhD

Moiz Mumtaz, PhD, is recognized as the 2013 recipient of the Arnold J. Lehman Award for his contributions to methods development for the risk assessment of chemicals, particularly as mixtures.

Dr. Mumtaz is a science advisor at the Environmental Toxicology Branch, Division of Toxicology and Human Health Sciences, ATSDR/CDC, Atlanta, Georgia. His research, which has traversed experimental toxicology (in vitro/in vivo), use of existing data for risk assessment, use of computational techniques to fill data gaps, and fine tuning of risk assessment methods using quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) and physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling during the past 25 years, focuses on methods development for the human health risk assessment of environmental chemicals, their mixtures, and more recently, for cumulative risk of chemical and nonchemical stressors. Editor of Principles and Practice of Mixtures Toxicology, published by Wiley-VCH, Dr. Mumtaz has extensively published his research findings in several peer-reviewed journals. His involvement in several agency-wide activities at ATSDR has led to the establishment of a mixtures research program for determining significant human exposures to environmental chemicals that supported mixtures research at several universities and the foundation of a computational toxicology laboratory. Dr. Mumtaz has moved the field of regulatory toxicology and risk assessment significantly forward through innovative thinking and principled risk assessment practice.

Internationally recognized for his contributions of sound and credible science in characterizing risk, Dr. Mumtaz is a highly sought member of US government, national, and international workgroups and committees charged with chemical risk assessment who has served on numerous workgroups organized by NIOSH, CDC, US EPA, and ATSDR, among others, and National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and World Health Organization (WHO) panels. He also has served as a member of the US EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors Computational Toxicology Subcommittee and was involved in the ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Mixtures initiatives that recently reviewed chemical interactions data and performed a case study to assess mixtures of surface water contaminants using the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach that was presented at WHO. He serves as the principal representative of ATSDR on the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM).

Dr. Mumtaz is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta. He lectures on toxicology and risk assessment and serves as a mentor of graduate students in public health.

He also advances educational and academic programs in environmental toxicology through invitational lectures and has been actively engaged in continuing education programs through Society of Toxicology (SOT) Continuing Education courses and Society of Risk Analysis (SRA) workshops.

Dr. Mumtaz is the founding president of the SOT Mixtures Specialty Section and has served on several SOT workgroups including the SOT Chemical/Biological Terrorism Task Force, SOT Mixtures Task Force, and SOT Scientific Liaison Task Force. In addition, he is a member of the SOT ATSDR/NCEH/CDC Government Liaison Workgroup.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Mumtaz with the 2013 Arnold J. Lehman Award.

Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA)

The Society is pleased to announce that Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA) is the recipient of the 2013 Congressional Science Leadership Award. Representative Reichert is a public servant who has dedicated his career to advancing legislation for the protection of human, animal, and/or environmental health that is based upon sound scientific principles. He serves on a number of Congressional caucuses that are designed to promote health issues and he has consistently voted in favor of raising the National Institutes of Health’s budget. He serves on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, which maintains jurisdiction over programs like Medicare, health delivery systems and health research. Representative Reichert is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Children’s Health Care Caucus, co-chair of the Congressional Global Health Caucus, and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Childhood Obesity. He is also a member of the Congressional Health Care Coalition, the Hunger Caucus, the Multiple Sclerosis Caucus, Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy, Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus, Congressional Fire Services Caucus, and the Congressional Malaria Caucus.

For his continuous support of scientific research and his dedication to issues that advance the health and safety of humans and the environment, the Society is honored to name him as the 2013 Congressional Science Leadership Award recipient.

The Board of Publications has selected the paper entitled “Blood Gene Expression Profiling Detects Silica Exposure and Toxicity” as the best paper published in Toxicological Sciences in the past year (Toxicol. Sci. 2011, 122(2): 253–264). The authors are Rajendran Sellamuthu, Christina Umbright, Jenny R. Roberts, Rebecca Chapman, Shih-Houng Young, Diana Richardson, Howard Leonard, Walter McKinney, Bean Chen, David Frazer, Shengqiao Li, Michael Kashon, and Pius Joseph. The research was conducted at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The authors evaluated gene expression alterations by microarray in the blood of rats exposed to silica via inhalation. They found that the number of gene expression changes was proportional to the extent of pulmonary toxicity produced, as measured by histopathology, macrophage and neutrophil infiltration, and cytokine activation. Analysis of the gene changes data demonstrated activation of inflammatory response as the major biological pathway activated by silica exposure. They extended these findings by using a selected 7-gene signature panel to predict the extent of toxicity of exposure to low concentrations of silica in rats.

This paper fulfills several promises put forth in the early stages of the toxicogenomic era. They evaluated gene expression changes in an easily obtained tissue instead of using target organ tissue. The gene expression data were closely anchored by phenotype analysis, which is an important step in the validation of surrogate biomarkers. Blood is easily obtained whereas target tissues, such as lung, are rarely available in humans. Secondly, they identified the mechanism of toxicity, inflammation, from the gene expression changes. Moreover, and most importantly, they were able to predict the pulmonary toxicity in rats exposed to low dose silica.

This paper demonstrates an important breakthrough for the detection of target organ toxicity using an easily obtainable sample that may be applicable to a wide range of chemical exposures in humans.

John J. Lemasters, MD, PhD

John J. Lemasters, MD, PhD, is awarded the 2013 Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award.

Dr. Lemasters is professor and director, Center for Cell Death, Injury and Regeneration, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Lemasters’ research interests concern the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying toxic, hypoxic, and ischemia-reperfusion injury. His laboratory applies new techniques of laser scanning confocal and multiphoton microscopy to characterize the physiology of single living cells, including the assessment of ion homeostasis, chelatable iron, mitochondrial function, electrical potentials, oxygen and nitrogen free radical formation, membrane permeability, and other biochemical parameters during the pathogenesis of lethal cell injury. These approaches are being extended to true in vivo (intravital) imaging of cells and tissues in living animals.

In addition to researching cellular and molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and necrosis, Dr. Lemasters is also concerned with organ preservation for transplantation surgery; mitochondrial physiology and pathophysiology, including mitochondrial permeability transition, mitophagy and calcium homeostasis; oxidative stress; ischemia/reperfusion; and confocal and multiphoton microscopy of living cells. Studying reperfusion injury to livers stored for transplantation surgery, Dr. Lemasters’ laboratory developed a new solution, Carolina rinse solution, whose use during reperfusion reduces lethal endothelial injury greatly and improves graft survival dramatically. Similarly, his laboratory is developing rinse solutions to decrease reperfusion- induced myocardial infarction and is pursuing mechanisms of Kupffer cell activation caused by ischemia/reperfusion, endotoxin, alcohol exposure and traumatic stress, particularly the roles played by calcium, endocytosis, adenosine receptors and protein kinases. More recently, Dr. Lemasters’ lab is characterizing ischemic preconditioning as a strategy of decreasing graft failure from preservation injury, especially in grafts harvested from non-heart beating cadaver donors and reduced-size liver grafts. With respect to ongoing mitochondria research, Dr. Lemasters’ lab is exploring the hypothesis that closure of voltage-dependent anion channels (VDAC) in the mitochondrial outer membrane accounts for global mitochondrial suppression consistent with a role for VDAC as a dynamic regulator, or governator, of global mitochondrial function both in health and disease.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Lemasters with the 2013 SOT Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award.

Rick G. Schnellmann, PhD

Rick G. Schnellmann, PhD, is the 2013 SOT Education Award recipient.

Dr. Schnellmann is an eminent scholar, distinguished university professor, and Chair, Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. The research projects in Dr. Schnellmann’s laboratory are directed towards understanding the mechanisms of renal injury and regeneration. His current research is focused on mitochondrial injury and novel approaches to promote mitochondrial biogenesis to treat acute kidney injury and diabetic nephropathy, and acute and chronic diseases in other organs.

As a mentor of more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory as well as host to numerous undergraduate students, Dr. Schnellmann has focused on building a strong and consistent legacy of education that recognizes the value of training the next generation of toxicologists. He is renowned for influencing his students to find their “niche” in science, improving their scientific abilities, and placing them in prominent laboratories throughout the world. As such, his students have gone on to establish successful, independent careers in toxicology.

At the national level, Dr. Schnellmann has served as a member of the SOT Tox 90s Educational Task Force, as the vice chair and chair of the Subcommittee for Minority Initiatives for the Society. His service on these committees was exceptional and marked with a great spirit of dedication and commitment.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Schnellmann with the 2013 SOT Education Award.

Martin L. Stephens, PhD

Martin L. Stephens, PhD, is awarded the 2013 SOT Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award. Dr. Stephens is a senior research associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), where he coordinates the Center’s activities on evidence-based toxicology. Prior to joining Hopkins in October 2011, Dr. Stephens was vice president for animal research issues at The Humane Society of the United States where he directed the Society’s efforts on behalf of animals in laboratories. He served on the National Academy of Sciences committee that wrote Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century, as well as on program committees for the World Congresses on the use of animals and alternatives in the life sciences. He co-founded (i) the Human Toxicology Project Consortium, which seeks to accelerate the implementation of pathway-based toxicity testing; (ii) AltTox website which is devoted to nonanimal methods of toxicity testing; and (iii) the Russell and Burch Award, which has recognized the contributions of toxicologist and others to alternative methods. Dr. Stephens has received the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Award and the CAAT Recognition Award for his contributions to animal protection and alternative methods.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Stephens with the 2013 SOT Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award.

William Alfred Suk, PhD, MPH

William Alfred Suk, PhD, MPH, is the 2013 SOT Founders Award recipient. Dr. Suk has served as director of the Superfund Hazardous Substances Basic Research and Training Program (Superfund Research Program) since its inception. He is also director of the Center for Risk & Integrated Sciences (CRIS) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). His affiliation with a number of organizations and committees include: Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences; International Advisory Board of the Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok, Thailand; and World Health Organization Consultation on Scientific Principles and Methodologies for Assessing Health Risks in Children Associated with Chemical Exposures. He is also a member of a number of trans-NIH committees.

Dr. Suk received his PhD in microbiology from the George Washington University and his Masters in Public Health in health policy from the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He sits on the editorial boards of a number of international journals, including Environmental Health, Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry, International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, and the Central European Journal of Public Health. Dr. Suk has been a National Science Foundation Fellow. The NIH has honored him for his many efforts and he has received the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service. He is a recipient of the Roy E. Albert Memorial Award for Translational Research in Environmental Health from the University of Cincinnati; the Child Health Advocacy Award from the Children’s Environmental Health Network; the John P. Wyatt Lecture Award in Environmental Health and Disease from the University of Kentucky; and the Adel F. Sarofim Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement in Championing Research on the Origin, Fate and Health Effects of Combustion Emissions. In addition to these many honors, he is a Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini.

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Suk with the 2013 SOT Founders Award, sponsored by the SOT Endowment Fund.

Sri Noegrohati, DrPharm

Sri Noegrohati, DrPharm, has a PhD in pharmacy and, since her dissertation in 1991, she has been involved in the risk assessment of contaminant residues, mainly pesticides, in the environment. She has been recognized by authorities from her country as an expert in the field. From 2002–2008 she worked with the Ministry of the Environment in the implementation and ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), as well as in the Estimation and Inventory of POPs in Indonesian Environment. Since 2003 she has been the Indonesian delegate for the Expert Working Group on the harmonization of Maximum Residues Limits of Pesticides among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Additionally, she has been appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture as the study director for the ASEAN Pesticide Residue Data Generation Project. In 2010 the Indonesian Ministry of Health appointed her as a consultant for cosmetics safety.

The Global Senior Scholar Exchange Program (GSSEP) will assist Dr. Noegrohati in increasing risk assessment capabilities and quality, evaluating and interpreting data, and proposing safety specifications. Since the Indonesian government needs safety assessors to assist in establishing regulations, it is expected that her experiences through the GSSEP would help them in shaping a risk assessment course program, which would motivate younger faculties to advance their knowledge in environmental and life sciences, motivate them to do more research, and use their knowledge to improve public and environmental health.

Through the GSSEP experience Dr. Noegrohati is also seeking to improve the Postgraduate Pharmacy Program of Gadjah Mada University, where she is the lecturer for some courses, including environmental toxicology and risk assessment of pesticide residues. This in turn will increase the knowledge of the environment, toxicology, and ecotoxicology in undergraduate programs of Gadjah Mada and Sanata Dharma Universities.

Dr. Noegrohati will be hosted at Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) by Drs. Michael Dourson and Bernard Gadagbui. TERA is an independent, nonprofit organization devoted to scientific collaboration to support the protection of public health. While at TERA, Dr. Noegrohati will network with TERA staff, learn about their activities related to evaluation and communication of risk, and investigate their training programs. She will also discuss academic and scientific programs related to human health risk assessment with scientists at University of Cincinnati, US EPA National Center for Environmental Assessment, Procter & Gamble, and other local institutions. In addition, she will participate in the Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference (TRAC) to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 2013.

Mohamed Mosaad Salama, MD, PhD

Mohamed Mosaad Salama, MD, PhD, Dr. Salama is a lecturer and head of the Neurotoxicology Unit in the Department of Toxicology at Mansoura University, Egypt. He serves as the clinical toxicologist at the Mansoura University Hospital. Dr. Salama is also head and founder of the Neurotoxicology Unit within the Medical Experimental Research Center of Mansoura University (MERC). The Department of Toxicology at Mansoura University is multidisciplinary with well-established units in clinical, analytical, forensic, and neurotoxicology. The Neurotoxicology and Analytical Units have been recent recipients of sizeable grants for capacity building. His research focuses on the role of environmental pollutants in neurodegenerative disorders (with particular emphasis on Parkinson’s disease) and the application of regenerative medicine tools such as stem cells in the treatment of such disorders. He has established collaborations with colleagues at the BMFZ-Philipps University and Technical University of Munich, Germany, on Parkinson’s disease models and use of stem cells as potential treatment.

The Global Senior Scholar Exchange Program (GSSEP) offers several opportunities for Dr. Salama, his university, region, and country. First is the need to improve the undergraduate and graduate teaching programs in toxicology. During his visit at Duke University, Dr. Salama hopes to be exposed to the toxicology curriculum and take home ideas on improving the toxicology program at his university in Mansoura. He will also seek to identify opportunities for teaching or research collaboration and be exposed to state-of-the-art research techniques and capabilities. One of Dr. Salama’s goals is to help make the toxicology department at Mansoura University an internationally recognized department. The GSSEP award will contribute to this goal through enabling the establishment of a strong and competitive toxicology education program and building collaborations with scientists in the United States, which would include exchange visits, exchange of teaching tools, and collaborative research programs.

Dr. Salama feels extremely fortunate to be hosted by Dr. Abou-Donia, a world-renowned toxicologist with extensive research output in neurotoxicology. In addition to networking with the Duke University students and faculty, Dr. Salama will have an opportunity, through Dr. Abou-Donia’s strong networks, to also visit the Duke University Marine Laboratory located on the North Carolina coast; the NIEHS, the US EPA, and the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, all located in the Research Triangle Park.

Donald E. Ingber, MD, PhD

Donald E. Ingber, MD, PhD, is the 2013 Leading Edge in Basic Science Award recipient.

Dr. Ingber is the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University; the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital; and Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Dr. Ingber is a founder of the emerging field of biologically inspired engineering, and at the Wyss Institute, he oversees a multifaceted effort to identify the mechanisms that living organisms use to self-assemble and to apply these design principles to develop advanced materials and devices. He also leads the Biomimetic Microsystems platform in which microfabrication techniques from the computer industry are used to build functional circuits with living cells as components. His most recent innovation is a technology for building tiny, complex, three-dimensional models of living human organs. These “organs on chips,” which mimic complicated human functions, are designed to replace traditional animal-based methods for testing of drugs and toxins. Dr. Ingber also has made major contributions to mechanobiology, tissue engineering, tumor angiogenesis, systems biology, and nanobiotechnology. He was the first to recognize that tensegrity architecture (in which a system stabilizes itself mechanically by balancing local compression with continuous tension) is a fundamental principle that governs how living cells are structured at the nanometer scale. In addition, Dr. Ingber has authored more than 325 publications and 70 patents and has received numerous honors including the Holst Medal, Pritzker Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society, Rous-Whipple Award from the American Society for Investigative Pathology, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of In Vitro Biology, and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Innovator Award. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. The Society is pleased to present Dr. Ingber with the 2013 SOT Leading Edge in Basic Science Award.

Frederick Peter Guengerich, PhD

Frederick Peter Guengerich, PhD, is awarded the 2013 SOT Merit Award.

Dr. Guengerich is the Stanford Moore professor of biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Guengerich, was director of the Center in Molecular Toxicology from 1980–2011 at Vanderbilt University and also served as interim chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 2010–2012. He is the author or co-author of over 620 peer-reviewed scientific articles and a researcher in toxicology working on cytochromes P450, DNA damage and carcinogenesis, and drug metabolism. His major areas of research interest include the metabolism of carcinogens and drugs by cytochrome P450 enzymes, the bioactivation of halogenated hydrocarbons, and polymerase interactions with carcinogen-modified DNA. Dr. Guengerich has served on several NIH study sections and special study sections and as an editorial board member or associate editor of a range of publications. He is presently an associate editor of both Chemical Research in Toxicology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and serves on the editorial boards of Critical Reviews in Toxicology and Nature Reviews, Drug Discovery.

Dr. Guengerich’s research has led to a range of awards and honors, including the Society of Toxicology Achievement Award; Burroughs Wellcome Scholar in Toxicology Award; Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; the President’s Distinguished Service Award, American College of Toxicology; American Association for Cancer Research Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research; R. T. Williams Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics; and the Founders’ Award, American Chemical Society, Division of Chemical Toxicology. He is also a Merit Awardee of the National Cancer Institute and has received an Honorary Doctorate (Docteur Honoris Causa) from L’Université Rene Descartes, Paris.

At Vanderbilt University, Dr. Guengerich has served as thesis advisor for 18 graduate students. Significantly, he has served as mentor to 125 postdoctoral trainees. The establishment of the F. Peter Guengerich Teaching Award for Mentoring Postdoctoral Fellows or Residents in the Research Setting at Vanderbilt University is testimony to the quality of his mentorship. In addition, he also teaches in biochemistry courses for graduate students. The Society is pleased to present Dr. Guengerich with the 2013 SOT Merit Award.

Marti Lindsey, PhD

Marti Lindsey, PhD, is the 2013 Public Communications Award recipient and the director of the Community Outreach and Education Core, Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC), University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Lindsay draws upon her experience in order to share information resulting from the research of toxicologists and environmental health (EH) scientists with the public and the K–12 education community and to facilitate partnerships between these groups. Under the direction of Dr. Lindsey, the Community Outreach and Education Core (COEC) develops materials related to SWEHSC research topics and the environmental health issues in the southwest. These include: arsenic exposure, asthma, cancer (especially skin cancer and UV exposure), chemicals and human health, diabetes, and the environment, EH literacy, EH research methods, environmental toxicology, lead poisoning awareness, lung disease, organ damage from environmental exposure, TCE/1,4 Dioxane exposure, understanding risk and health, and health issues related to solid and hazardous waste. Dissemination mechanisms utilized by Dr. Lindsey include the creation of flyers, information walks, presentations, and web materials.

She has become nationally recognized for her success with outreach and communication to the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA). Her expertise in this area has recently been further recognized as she was awarded an intercenter pilot grant entitled “Defining

Environmental Health Literacy” that will fast track the process of finding consensus about the meaning of environmental health literacy by actively seeking the input of diverse groups.

As the co-director of the Keep Engaging Youth in Science (KEYS), a seven-week summer research internship program, Dr. Lindsey teaches high school students about toxicology and environmental health and places them in the research laboratories of SWEHSC investigators. This privately funded program has grown from 9 students in 2007 to accepting 48 students in 2013. During the last five years, Dr. Lindsey’s Community Outreach and Education Core (COEC) informed more than 21,700 individuals directly of SWEHSC EH topics and reached half a million people via media coverage. COEC websites received an average of nearly 3,000 requests for pages per day between 2006 and 2010, with more than one million requests for pages in 2010 and 5.3 million during the funding period. Indirectly, 16,800 children were reached during the last five years by more than 200 teachers who attended professional development courses offered by Dr. Lindsey.

The Society is pleased to recognize Dr. Lindsey with the 2013 SOT Public Communications Award.

Herbert L. Needleman, MD

Herbert L. Needleman, MD, is a medical doctor, child psychiatrist, professor, and renowned scientist who is best known for his seminal research on the neuro-developmental damage caused by lead poisoning. Dr. Needleman played a key role in securing important environmental health protections during the twentieth century, including the elimination of lead in gasoline and the issuance of guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the diagnosis and management of lead poisoning in children. He played a key role in helping to establish environmental safety measures that have reduced blood lead levels by an estimated 78 percent between 1976 and 1991. In addition, his work and persistence in educating government policymakers and others helped bring about the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s ban on lead in interior paints. Dr. Needleman’s work was also instrumental in convincing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to remove lead from thousands of housing units in the United States. He also designed one of the first studies of lead exposure during gestation that demonstrated that such exposure is associated with cognitive deficits later in life.

In addition to his many scientific achievements, Dr. Needleman also authored numerous books to offer advice to parents and physicians on how to evaluate and minimize toxic exposure risks including lead, asbestos, pesticides, and other toxins. While teaching at Temple University, he served as the chair of the Committee of Responsibility whose goal was to help civilians who were injured in the Vietnam War. Working with other medical doctors, scientists, clergymen, and citizens, the Committee assisted injured Vietnamese children and set up shelters for care of paraplegic children in Berkeley, California and Boston, Massachusetts.

For his achievements as a researcher on the neurodevelopmental damage caused by lead poisoning and as a researcher who made substantial inroads leading to significant environmental health protections during the twentieth century, the Society of Toxicology is pleased to present the Toxicology Landmark Program Award to Dr. Needleman.

M. Shane Hutson, PhD

M. Shane Hutson, PhD, who joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 2003, is Associate Professor of Physics, with a secondary appointment in Biological Sciences. Professor Hutson is also a Fellow of VIIBRE—the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystem Research & Education. His research inter- ests are in biological physics, specifically in how biological systems can be probed and manipulated by light (biophotonics). Current projects in the lab include investigating the physical mechanisms underlying laser tissue ablation, both with mid-IR and UV lasers; using laser-microsurgery to probe the inter- and intracellular forces that drive morphogenesis (i.e., the development of an organism’s form); and using genetics, laser-microsurgery, and quantitative modeling to integrate the genetic and mechanical aspects of wound detection and healing.

The Society is pleased to recognize Dr. Hutson as the recipient of the 2013 SOT Translational/Bridging Travel Award.

Sidhartha D. Ray, PhD, FACN

Sidhartha D. Ray, PhD, FACN, is awarded the 2013 SOT Undergraduate Educator Award.

Dr. Ray is professor and chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manchester University College of Pharmacy, Fort Wayne, Indiana since May 2011. Dr. Ray chairs programs of education, research and service in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is a member of the Dean’s Management Council. Prior to joining Manchester University, Dr. Ray served as professor of toxicology at the Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences of Long Island University, New York, where he taught several courses in toxicology, medical microbiology and immunology for nearly two decades. In his 28 years of academic experience in pharmacy teaching and research, he has trained numerous undergraduate and graduate students in toxicology. Dr. Ray is both a dedicated teacher and a formidable scientist who passionately teaches his students how to be “lifelong learners”! He currently teaches several undergraduate core courses in biomedical sciences, toxicology, and integrated pharmacotherapeutics. Over the last decade, Dr. Ray has contributed greatly to our knowledge on the apoptosis in the toxicity of acetaminophen as well as a stunning variety of drugs and chemicals. His research has influenced the development of safety measures for a number of drugs and chemicals. He is nationally recognized as a leader in the scientific community and was the first to organize continuing education courses on the role of apoptosis in health and disease at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology in 1996 in Los Angeles, California, and again in 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Based upon his seminal work over the past two decades focused on understanding fundamental mechanisms of how cells die (apoptosis) at the cellular, subcellular and genomic levels, Dr. Ray received several prestigious awards. These include the Abraham Krasnoff Memorial Award for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement, the David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching Pharmacy, and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology Research Award. He is internationally known for his ground-breaking work on drug and chemical-induced programmed cell death in the liver and kidneys in vivo and its prevention strategies by various phytochemicals. He currently serves on the NIH–NLM–Toxlearn Project and SOT Undergraduate Task Force Subcommittee (both, 2007–present), and has previously served on the SOT Education Committee (2007–2010).

The Society is pleased to present Dr. Ray with the 2013 SOT Undergraduate Educator award.