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2011 Award Winners
VOS Award for Career Achievement in Immunotoxicology
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Ralph Smialowicz, Ph.D.
Ralph earned his B.S degree in biology from Seton Hall in 1968 and an MS degree in Biology from St. John’s in 1970. His Ph.D. is in Bacteriology and Immunology, awarded in 1974, by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ralph always claimed that he these chose these schools because of their academic reputations, but those of us who know him well suspect that the quality of each school’s basketball team may have also influenced his choice. Ralph joined U.S. EPA in 1974 as a research microbiologist in the Cellular Biophysics Branch, a group that was assessing potential health effects of microwave radiation. Ralph published his first developmental immunotoxicity paper, on the immunological effects of gestational exposure to microwaves, at about the same time Jef Vos and Mike Luster began publishing papers on the developmental immunotoxicity of TCDD and heavy metals. While he was involved in microwave research, he served on several national nonionizing radiation boards and committees and provided testimony to a U.S. House of Representatives science and technology subcommittee investigating the safety of microwaves.
Ralph was given the Vos Career Achievement Award in 2011 for his significant contributions to the field of immunotoxicology, particularly in three important areas: development and validation of immunotoxicity testing strategies and protocols at the national and international level, optimizing and standardizing assays of immune function in the rat, and investigating the developmental immunotoxicity of environmental contaminants having international regulatory interest. Although he was not the first to use rats as an immunotoxicology model, he anticipated the need for optimized methods in rats prior to implementation of U.S. EPA’s mandated immunotoxicity testing for pesticide registration. Ralph generously shared his methods with others and gladly answered questions and give advice to all who asked.
The breadth of Ralph’s impact on immunotoxicology is impressive. His publications include descriptive and mechanistic studies on microwaves, ozone, metals, various pesticides and fungicides, organotins, glycol ethers and their metabolites, dioxins and PCBs, and various pharmaceuticals. His adult immunotoxicity publications often began with a seminal paper describing the effects of exposure, followed by papers that describe modes of action or the identity active metabolites. Several of his DIT papers have very high citation rates. For example, as of December, 2010, a review on developmental windows of sensitivity that he coauthored with Steve Holladay had been cited 140 times. Although reviews are prime candidates for high citation counts, two papers on the developmental immunotoxicity of TCDD DIT Ralph published with Brad Ghers, and the paper he coauthored with Dana Walker, were cited a total of 120 times. Nine other developmental immunotoxicity papers had each been cited more than 40 times. His expertise led to a significant role in the development and writing of WHO’s Environmental Health Criteria 59, “Principles for Evaluating Health Risks from Chemicals During Infancy and Early Childhood: The Need for a Special Approach.” Ralph was also recognized by the U.S. EPA for his efforts to develop guidance for testing pesticides for immunotoxicity (a Bronze National Recognition medal) and for his contribution to the U.S. EPA risk assessment of perchlorate (U.S. EPA National Honor Award Gold Medal). These awards are the most significant form of Agency-wide recognition and are only awarded to individuals who make a substantial contribution to the Agency’s primary mission: identifying environmental hazards and applying the best science to protecting the public health and managing risk.
In addition to Ralph’s skill in the lab, he was an outstanding teacher. During his career he mentored four post doctoral fellows, an M.D.-Ph.D. student, two master’s students and held adjunct appointments at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University, where he regularly taught in advanced toxicology courses. He was able to harness newly-minted Ph.D. enthusiasm, and naïve “I’m already an expert” outlook on immunotoxicology, by providing guidance and support so deftly that we (his former students) didn’t realize we were being mentored. We were treated as equals, not as serfs brought in to do the actual work. He taught all of us the value of careful planning and creative thinking, management of human, animal and financial resources, and, above all, the importance of scientific integrity. We learned the importance of treating all members of the team as integral to the success of each experiment, and to acknowledge each person's contributions.
Ralph joins the 10 previous winners of the Vos Award as a leader in the field of immunotoxicology. His friends, colleagues and family are grateful for this special recognition of Ralph’s talents and contributions.
Best Paper 2010
Diane Antonios, Philippe Rousseau, Alexandre Larangé, Saadia Kerdine-Römer, and Marc Pallardy,
Mechanisms of IL-12 Synthesis by Human Dendritic Cells Treated with the Chemical Sensitizer NiSO4. J Immunol. 2010 Jul 1;185(1):89–98.
Young Immunotoxicologist Award
Victor J. Johnson, Ph.D.
HESI Travel Award
Naoko Kumagai, Ph.D.
Best Presentation by a Postdoctoral Fellow
Jinze (Robert) Li, Ph.D.,
Immunological Aspects of An Animal Model of Amodiaquine-Induced Liver Toxicity
Best Student Presentations:
1st Place
Jenna M. Benson,
Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation Suppresses Intestinal Inflammation
2nd Place (tie)
Peer Karmaus,
Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Decreases Dendritic Cell Immune Responses after Influenza Infection In Vivo and Toll-like Receptor Stimulation In Vitro
2nd Place (tie)
Tom Simones,
Ah Receptor Activation Generates Regulatory Dendritic Cells Capable of Inducing CD4+CD25+ FoxP3+ Regulatory T cells
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