2021 SOT Award Recipients

Honorary Membership

Thomas A. Burke, PhD

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

Thomas A. Burke, PhD, is the Jacob I. and Irene B. Fabrikant Professor and Chair in Health Risk and Society in the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the School of Medicine Department of Oncology. He is also the Director of the Johns Hopkins Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute.

Dr. Burke was nominated by US President Barack Obama to serve as the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development. From January 2015 to January 2017, Dr. Burke was the US EPA Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research and Development.

Dr. Burke’s research interests include environmental epidemiology and surveillance, population exposures to environmental pollutants, risk assessment and communication, and the application of epidemiology and health risk assessment to public policy.

Before joining Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Burke was Deputy Commissioner of Health for the State of New Jersey and Director of Science and Research for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. He was Chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Improving Risk Analysis, which produced the report Science and Decisions, and currently serves as Chair of the Environmental Health Matters Initiative of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Burke received his BS from Saint Peter’s College, his MPH from the University of Texas, and his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Honorary Membership

Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD

Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD, is Director of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University. Dr. Wu received his MD from Yale University and PhD in molecular and medical pharmacology from the University of California Los Angeles. He is board certified in cardiology.

Dr. Wu’s lab works on cardiovascular genomics and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The main goals are to (1) understand basic disease mechanisms, (2) accelerate drug discovery and screening, (3) develop a “clinical trial in a dish” concept, and (4) implement precision medicine for patients. Dr. Wu has published more than 400 manuscripts, with an h-index of 101 on Google Scholar. He is listed in the top 1% of highly cited researchers by Web of Science (2018, 2019, 2020).

Dr. Wu has received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH Roadmap Transformative Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers presented by US President Barack Obama at the White House, American Heart Association (AHA) Distinguished Scientist Award, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund Innovation in Regulatory Science Award.

Dr. Wu serves on the US Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee and AHA National Board of Directors. He is an elected member of the Association of University Cardiologists, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association of American Physicians, and National Academy of Medicine.

Achievement Award

Andrew D. Patterson, PhD

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

A world leader in the field of metabolomics, Andrew D. Patterson, PhD, has been awarded the 2021 SOT Achievement Award for his leadership, vision, service, and dedication to the field of toxicology.

Dr. Patterson has established himself as a prestigious investigator at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, where he holds multiple positions, including Professor of molecular toxicology and Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. He is the Tombros Early Career Professor and Huck Endowed Chair, as well as the Penn State Cancer Institute Metabolomics Shared Resource Director.

Dr. Patterson received his PhD in genetics in 2006 through a graduate partnership program between George Washington University and the National Cancer Institute. He then undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Laboratory of Metabolism at the National Cancer Institute, during which he focused on the development and refinement of metabolomics approaches to determine how toxicants and other environmental exposures influence the metabolome. At a time when this field was just emerging, Dr. Patterson’s work furthered metabolomics as an invaluable tool for understanding drug metabolism and promoted the development and identification of translational biomarkers for ionizing radiation exposure, toxicity, diabetes, and cancer.

Dr. Patterson’s research illustrates the connection between toxicology and medicine in ways that have clear implications for the development of therapeutics and for public health measures to address risk factors associated with nongenetic metabolic diseases and their associated chronic disease manifestations. His laboratory has become a world leader in metabolomics research and is a major resource for numerous laboratories within and outside the United States that are trying to incorporate this approach into their science.

Dr. Patterson’s current research interests are focused on understanding the host-metabolite-microbiota axis—specifically how the manipulation of gut bacteria affects host metabolites and how these host/bacterial co-metabolites interact with host nuclear receptors and modulate toxicity and cancer.

In addition to his research, Dr. Patterson’s service in the field of toxicology is exemplified by his long list of advisees and mentees. Dr. Patterson has mentored nearly 50 young researchers, from undergraduate students to junior faculty. Many postdoctoral fellows under his mentorship have progressed to academic and industry careers, and he has trained graduate students who have earned PhDs with an emphasis on metabolomics and toxicology.

Since Dr. Patterson joined SOT in 2012, his laboratory has presented research findings every year at the SOT Annual Meeting, including poster presentations and a Platform Session. He also has served on the Editorial Board of Toxicological Sciences (ToxSci) and currently serves as an Associate Editor of ToxSci and Environmental Health Perspectives. In addition to participation within SOT, Dr. Patterson also is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the American Chemical Society and is an Editorial Board member of several high-impact journals.

Arnold J. Lehman Award

Calvin C. Willhite, PhD

Risk Sciences International and McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Calvin C. Willhite, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Arnold J. Lehman Award for his exemplary service in advancing the scientific basis of human health risk assessment at the local, national, and international levels.

Dr. Willhite received his PhD in pharmacology from Dartmouth Medical School in 1980 and completed a postdoctoral inhalation toxicology fellowship at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He then worked as a research pharmacologist for the US Department of Agriculture, later taking a position with the State of California, where he was responsible for human health risk assessments to support promulgation of California’s drinking water Maximum Contaminant Levels. Dr. Willhite is now a senior affiliate scientist with Risk Sciences International and the McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, a position he has held since 2012.

Dr. Willhite has extensive experience in toxicity evaluation, hazard identification, and exposure assessment. He is an expert in quantitative human health risk assessment of pesticides, solvents, metals, and other materials and mixtures of chemicals in the workplace and at hazardous waste sites. His application of advanced approaches to fully evaluate toxicity and potential risk at environmentally relevant exposures has been instrumental in fostering open, honest communication with workers, consumers, and affected communities. Dr. Willhite has produced accurate and scientifically justified toxicity and health risk evaluations, which are critical to establishing and maintaining trust and credibility among the regulated community and other stakeholders.

Dr. Willhite is a leader in human health risk assessment, with more than 100 publications in basic and applied toxicology and human health risk assessment. Dr. Willhite has published primarily about developmental toxicology and quantitative structure-activity relationships. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Toxicology & Applied Pharmacology, Toxicology, and the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health B, and he was Editor of the New York Academy of Sciences› Maternal Nutrition and Pregnancy Outcome and Guest Editor for the journal Toxicology (Bisphenol Exposure, Hazard and Regulation). On the regulatory level, Dr. Willhite testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on the Safety of Phthalates and Bisphenol A, and he has been a member of the National Academy’s Committee on Toxicology; the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Advisory Committee; the National Toxicology Program (NTP) Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods; the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction’s Chemical Expert and Level of Concern Panels; the National Research Council’s Submarine Air Quality and Acute Exposure Guideline Levels Subcommittees; the NSF Health Advisory Board; the Johns Hopkins Data and Safety Committee/Nepal National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, Kathmandu; the ACGIH Committee on Threshold Limit Values, the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s Cancer Chemoprevention Panel; the Cal/Occupational Safety and Health Administration Lead in Construction Permissible Exposure Limit Committee; and the Science Advisory Committee for the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.

Dr. Willhite joined SOT as a Full member in 1983, and he then received the SOT Frank R. Blood Award in recognition of the most scientifically outstanding publication (Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 84(1): 206–207) in an official SOT publication during the preceding 12-month period; those data contributed to understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for retinoid-induced human congenital malformations. His biography appears in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, and Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare.

The Society is pleased to award the Arnold J. Lehman Award to Dr. Willhite for his outstanding contributions to evidence-based toxicology to improve public health.

Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award

Deborah Cory-Slechta, PhD

University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY

Deborah Cory-Slechta, PhD, has been awarded the 2021 SOT Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award in honor of her scientific achievements and contributions to public health in the fields of environmental health sciences and toxicology.

Dr. Cory-Slechta is currently a Professor of environmental medicine, pediatrics, and public health sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where she trains and mentors a number of scholastically recognized students via hands-on, project-oriented teaching, as well as offering support and mentorship to junior faculty members. She also is the Deputy Director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Dr. Cory-Slechta is a world-renowned behavioral psychologist and neurotoxicologist, and her work has provided mechanistic support for understanding the consequences of lead exposure in developing animals and humans. Her studies combine powerful hypothesis-generating screening tools with rigorous hypothesis-driven research questions to systematically test xenobiotic-induced neurotoxicity. Dr. Cory-Slechta has championed behavioral batteries for the assessment of neurotoxicity, developing new methodologies and asserting the importance of early changes in behavior as markers of aberrant neurodevelopment and neurotoxicity. She developed sensitive behavioral tasks to enable translation and validation of her animal work to human populations, which has significantly contributed to the recognition that levels of lead exposure previously thought of as safe are likely causing damage to children, particularly those that have additional risk factors. Dr. Cory-Slechta’s studies have led to a paradigm shift and recognition by federal agencies of the necessity to include developmental neurotoxicity studies in the assessment of ill effects of xenobiotics, particularly as they pertain to the nervous system.

Dr. Cory-Slechta’s scientific influence is demonstrated by an enormous number of invited research presentations worldwide as well as her sustained publication repertoire, which includes over 190 published manuscripts in high-impact journals. In addition, her laboratory since its establishment has received continual funding by the National Institutes of Health, a testament to her outstanding leadership and research.

Since joining SOT in 1983, Dr. Cory-Slechta has served as Chair of the SOT Awards Committee; as a member of the Education and Nominating Committees; as Councilor of the Metals Specialty Section; and as Councilor and President of the Neurotoxicology Specialty Section. Her efforts were recognized through her receipt of the 2017 Neurotoxicology Specialty Section Distinguished Neurotoxicologist Award. In addition to service to SOT, Dr. Cory-Slechta is on the Editorial Boards of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Toxicology, and NeuroToxicology and is a reviewer for a multitude of study sections for the National Institutes of Health, US Environmental Protection Agency, and other granting bodies, among numerous other institutional commitments.

Education Award

Wei Zheng, PhD, ATS

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Wei Zheng, PhD, ATS, has received the 2021 SOT Education Award for his significant contributions to education in toxicology and his training of toxicologists for more than 25 years as a researcher and educator.

Dr. Zheng received his PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona in 1991, where he also performed his postdoctoral research. His distinguished teaching career in toxicology began with a tenure-track faculty appointment at Columbia University in 1993, where he developed and taught the keystone courses in the toxicology and environmental health sciences programs.

Since joining Purdue University in 2003, Dr. Zheng has taught toxicology, public health, occupational and environmental health, analytic toxicology and pathology, and biochemical toxicology. Notably, he played an indispensable role in building Purdue’s toxicology research and education programs, which had largely gone into hibernation before Dr. Zheng’s recruitment to the university. Dr. Zheng brought to Purdue not only his NIEHS-funded research programs, but also his experience in assisting with the development of environmental health sciences and toxicology programs at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. During his time as the head of the Purdue School of Health Sciences from 2008 to 2017, Dr. Zheng created opportunities for and recruited nine faculty members in the areas of toxicology, epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, health physics, and medical imaging science, building a highly interdisciplinary team for research and education in toxicology and environmental health. Dr. Zheng’s research on the transport of metals and their essential and neurotoxic properties on the brain—as well as his mentoring and collaborative efforts in this area—has propelled the School of Health Sciences to take a position as the incubator of metal toxicological research among peer investigators worldwide.

On an individual level, Dr. Zheng has been a key influence on his students’ academic and professional development and success, setting high standards and providing strong encouragement, guidance, and support that have led his students to become qualified researchers, proficient writers, and effective teachers. He has helped his students broaden their interests, career opportunities, and professional networks. Throughout his career in academia, Dr. Zheng has mentored 23 graduate students in his own lab and has participated, as the graduate committee member, in another 45 graduate students’ training in toxicology. In addition, he has mentored a total of 33 postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and senior researchers in his lab.

Since 2003, Dr. Zheng also has inspired more than 3,500 undergraduate students enrolled in his freshman health science course, building their awareness of environmental health and toxicological issues and contributing to pertinent career development in the private and public health science fields. He also has mentored 28 undergraduate students in his neurotoxicology lab; many of these students have presented their research in local, national, and international conferences, and five of them have earned co-authorship in internationally acclaimed research journals. In addition, Dr. Zheng actively contributes to students’ extracurricular activities by serving as the faculty advisor for several student organizations.

An SOT member since 1995, Dr. Zheng has represented Purdue’s School of Health Sciences by participating in undergraduate and diversity activities during several SOT annual meetings. He also has served as a Co-Chair of SOT Annual Meeting Scientific Sessions and Continuing Education courses nearly every year since 1999.

Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award

Barbara A. Wetmore, PhD

US EPA Office of Research and Development, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Research Triangle Park, NC

Barbara A. Wetmore, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award in recognition of her extensive contributions to the development and application of in vitro methods for toxicokinetics that allow the replacement of experimental animals.

Dr. Wetmore received her PhD in toxicology from North Carolina State University in 2000 and performed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Dr. Wetmore has worked to develop methods suitable for addressing the thousands of chemicals in commerce and the environment that do not have sufficient traditional data to allow calculation of risk posed to public health. In her work as a toxicologist for the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), where she currently serves as a human exposure modeling scientist, Dr. Wetmore brings her expertise in toxicokinetics and in vitro to in vivo extrapolation modeling approaches to new approach methodologies (NAM) research. Her research involves developing and assessing in vitro assays that will improve science while reducing animal use in toxicity testing. Dr. Wetmore has been honored for this work through several internal awards, including the US EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s Bronze Award for Alternative Test Methods Strategic Plan Team in 2018. She also is a member of the US EPA Toxic Substances Control Act NAM cross-agency group, tasked with NAM review.

To date, Dr. Wetmore has helped provide chemical-specific toxicokinetic information for roughly 1,000 chemicals using nonanimal methods. Her outstanding work not only has helped reduce the use of vertebrate species for toxicokinetics but also has provided a key component in advancing toxicology. Dr. Wetmore’s research has placed nonanimal in vitro high-throughput bioactivity screening in a context that allows both comparison to traditional methods as well as application to better protect public health.

Dr. Wetmore has been active in SOT since joining the membership in 2009. She is the 2020–2021 President of both the SOT Risk Assessment Specialty Section and the SOT Exposure Specialty Section, of which she also is a co-founder. In addition, she is a Past President of the In Vitro and Alternative Methods Specialty Section and has co-chaired and presented at various SOT annual meetings on a variety of topics, including in vitro to in vivo extrapolation, high-throughput exposure modeling, and incorporation of in vitro pharmacokinetic data into risk assessment. She also is a member of the Toxicological Sciences Editorial Board.

In addition to her leadership within SOT, Dr. Wetmore is involved with other national and international organizations that work to incorporate nonanimal methods into toxicological testing. Among her myriad committee appointments, she currently serves on the EURL-ECVAM expert group on in vitro hepatic metabolic clearance methods and is a member of the OECD Working Group of the National Coordination of the Test Guidelines Programme Expert Group on Toxicokinetics.

Founders Award (for Outstanding Leadership in Toxicology)

Michael Gallo, PhD, ATS, DABT

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ

Michael Gallo, PhD, ATS, DABT, has been awarded the 2021 SOT Founders Award (for Outstanding Leadership in Toxicology) for his mentorship, visionary scholarship, and advocacy of the application of cutting-edge technologies and their incorporation into evidence-based toxicology at all levels.

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Dr. Gallo has left an indelible mark on the practice of toxicology. An early and vocal advocate of rational risk assessment practices, a strong supporter of the application of contemporary techniques and technologies to toxicological questions, a meticulous and visionary principal investigator, and a mentor of students and colleagues alike, Dr. Gallo epitomizes the toxicology professional and scholar.

After service in the US Marine Corps, Dr. Gallo graduated from Russell Sage College with a BA in biology and chemistry and received his PhD in toxicology and experimental pathology from the Albany Medical College, where he then performed postdoctoral training in pathology under a National Institutes of Health fellowship. Dr. Gallo’s early career was in corporate toxicology at Rhodia Inc. (Rhone-Poulenc, US), as a staff toxicologist and Chief Corporate Toxicologist, and subsequently at Food & Drug Research Laboratory as Vice President and Director of Research, and finally to Foster Snell Laboratory as Vice President and Director of Biological Laboratories. His broad experience in industrial toxicology instilled in him a strong appreciation of the requirements for science-based decision-making and ethical product stewardship. These principles formed a cornerstone of his standards of teaching and research practices for the rest of his career.

In 1980, Dr. Gallo joined the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as an early participant in an ambitious initiative to develop a major program in toxicology at the university. Under the founding leadership of Dr. Bernard Goldstein and Dr. Gallo, the discipline of toxicology at Rutgers expanded rapidly and attracted many leaders in the field, including Dr. Robert Snyder. The New Jersey Governor’s Office, recognizing the value of this expertise in addressing the state’s concerns regarding environmental health, allocated the funds to build the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) to encompass the full spectrum of toxicology—from basic research to public policy. Dr. Gallo was instrumental in building EOHSI into a world-class facility, and his influence on environmental public policy in New Jersey and throughout the US has been profound.

Throughout his academic career at Rutgers, Dr. Gallo tirelessly advanced the doctrine of toxicology. He assumed ever-greater responsibilities in academic administration, serving as Associate Dean (and later Senior Associate Dean) of Research for the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Associate Director of EOHSI, Associate Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology, and Director of the UMDNJ-Rutgers NIEHS P30 Center. He also was the first Interim Director of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and played a key role in recruiting the founding director and in the institute’s subsequent development into an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Equally impressive is Dr. Gallo’s critical role in nurturing the careers of generations of toxicologists, both within SOT and through numerous additional professional activities. He has served as a mentor and advocate for toxicologists-in-training for more than four decades at Rutgers and throughout the US. He was a driving force in maintaining the Gordon Research Conferences in Toxicology, which have helped develop many young scientists.

Dr. Gallo has influenced even more young scholars through his leadership positions within SOT. As a founding member and President of the SOT Mid-Atlantic Regional Chapter, he initiated training activities for students in risk assessment to supplement the emphasis on mechanistic toxicology; these activities continue to this day. He also has served as Chair of the Membership Committee; a member of the Awards Committee, Congressional Subcommittee, and Endowment Fund Board; and Councilor of the Society. These contributions are all in addition to Dr. Gallo’s myriad appointments on influential Editorial Boards, graduate school committees, external advisory boards, and national committees.

Leading Edge in Basic Science Award

Dana C. Dolinoy, PhD

University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI

Dana C. Dolinoy, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Leading Edge in Basic Science Award for her work in environmental epigenetics and the resulting effect of her research on toxicology and public health.

Dr. Dolinoy received her PhD in genetics and genomics and integrated toxicology and environmental health from Duke University in 2007 and conducted her postdoctoral fellowship in radiation oncology at the Duke University Medical School. She is currently the NSF International Chair of Environmental Health Sciences and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, as well as Faculty Director of the Epigenomics Core at Michigan Medicine. Through these roles, Dr. Dolinoy provides a rigorous environment for training future scientists, instilling in them the need for critical experimentation and evaluation and interpretation of data.

Dr. Dolinoy has been involved in evaluating the impact of environmental exposures on the pathogenesis of diseases for over 15 years. An internationally recognized leader in the field of environmental epigenetics, Dr. Dolinoy leads innovative research evaluating how the health effects of environmental exposures can be mediated through changes in the epigenome. Within the past five years, Dr. Dolinoy has conducted numerous studies, both in her laboratory and in collaboration with others, to demonstrate how exposure to a variety of environmental chemicals—including bisphenols, phthalates, and metals—can cause specific alterations in the epigenome.

Dr. Dolinoy’s research also is pushing the boundaries of understanding the epigenome as well as tools to evaluate this critical system in gene regulation. Most recently, she was able to demonstrate the tissue-specific expression of Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNA) in most mouse somatic tissue in the first study to do so. These small RNAs were previously assumed to be expressed exclusively in germ line tissues, where they are known to be involved in transposon silencing by DNA methylation. Thus, this study not only suggests a possible role of the Piwi proteins/piRNA in regulating the epigenome in the soma, but also offers the promise of a tool for epigenome editing to improve human health.

Between 2015 and 2019, Dr. Dolinoy’s publications have received a total of 4,386 citations, resulting in a five-year h-index of 35, easily placing her in the top 2% of scientists in her field. Recognition of her work also is evident from numerous national and international invitations to present her research, as well as service as an Associate Editor of Toxicological Sciences and Environmental Health Perspectives and on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry; Epigenetics; and Environmental Epigenetics.

Dr. Dolinoy has been an active SOT member since 2005. She is the 2020–2021 Past President of the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section and recently concluded her term on the Board of Publications. She served as Chair of the 2015 Gordon Research Conference in Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity and Co-Chair of the 2016 SOT Contemporary Concepts in Toxicology meeting Toxicoepigenetics: The Interface of Epigenetics and Risk Assessment. She also was the recipient of the Women in Toxicology Special Interest Group Outstanding Young Investigator Award in 2017 and the SOT Achievement Award in 2018.

Merit Award

Rogene Henderson, PhD, DABT

Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM

Rogene Henderson, PhD, DABT, has received the 2021 SOT Merit Award for her contributions to the science of toxicology, the regulation of pollutants, and the training and career development of many toxicologists over a career that has spanned almost six decades.

A groundbreaker in chemistry and biochemistry and a leader for women in science, Dr. Henderson received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Texas in 1960, during a time when gender diversity in the sciences was uncommon and the scientific world was composed mostly of men. Her career is best noted for her passionate defense of the environment and human health and her early research focused on how chemicals could affect biological systems. Her expertise spans numerous toxicants, including ozone, asbestos, tobacco, and particulate matter, as well as health effects, such as cancer, Gulf War Syndrome, and respiratory disease.

Dr. Henderson was among the first scientists hired by Dr. Roger O. McClellan in the late 1960s at the newly established Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute (ITRI), which would later become the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute. She remained there for her entire career. Early on, Dr. Henderson led a project funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) on the toxicokinetics of xenobiotics and developed novel biomarkers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid–and through those efforts, contributed to the development of the modern field of inhalation toxicology.

Dr. Henderson published extensively, culminating in over 250 scientific communications, including peer-reviewed primary research as well as review articles, chapters, and books. The ITRI held periodic workshops to share its technology and experience with others, and these events provided the basis for Concepts in Inhalation Toxicology, a book edited by Drs. McClellan and Henderson (first edition—1989; second edition—1995).

Dr. Henderson’s participation on regulatory and advisory panels began in the early 1980s and continued for three decades. She served two terms on the Toxicology Study Section of the NIEHS and then served on the NIEHS Council. She also served on 28 committees of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and its National Research Council (NRC). She chaired eight committees, including the Committee on Toxicology, a standing committee providing advice to the military. She was a member of the NRC Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and after her initial term, she served as Chair. For her service, Dr. Henderson was named a National Associate of the National Academies.

Dr. Henderson has filled numerous advisory roles on panels for the National Institutes of Health, NASEM, US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and many other organizations, including filling leadership positions. She chaired the US EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), and during her term as Chair, CASAC offered critical advice to the US EPA Administrator informing revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone and Particulate Matter. Dr. Henderson additionally contributed to the World Health Organization’s guidelines for air quality and served on numerous local, US, and international advisory boards. She also spent eight years on the Research Committee of the Health Effects Institute, which plays a key role in coordinating research on the health effects of motor vehicle emissions.

Dr. Henderson is known as a thoughtful scientific leader, and she contributed significantly to the careers of numerous scientists who collaborated with her or trained under her. The list of scientists with whom she has co-authored papers is extensive and includes many leaders in toxicology and environmental health. She also contributed to the Editorial Boards of numerous journals.

Dr. Henderson is a Past President of both the SOT Mountain West Regional Chapter and the SOT Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section. The Mountain West Regional Chapter named her Ambassador of Toxicology in 1997, and she is the past recipient of three Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section Awards for Best Paper on Inhalation Toxicology as well as the 1994 Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section Career Achievement Award.

In addition to her service to SOT, Dr. Henderson also was an early Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has lifetime academic appointments at Purdue University and the University of New Mexico, where in her working retirement she has lectured to medical students and residents.

Public Communications Award

Johnnye Lewis, PhD

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Johnnye Lewis, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Public Communications Award in recognition of her decades-long record of building innovative programs that blend environmental health research with robust public communication strategies, particularly among Native American populations exposed to toxic legacy mine wastes.

Dr. Lewis received her PhD in pharmacology from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in 1989, thereafter evolving her early career experience as a toxicologist to become a profoundly impactful community health researcher. Currently a Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of New Mexico, Dr. Lewis founded and directs the University of New Mexico Community Environmental Health Program and is the primary investigator of three Center grants: a P42 Superfund Center from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a P50 Environmental Health Disparities Center from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and a UG3/UH3 Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program cohort site from the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director.

Dr. Lewis’s career has focused on addressing major environmental health disparities that adversely impact the indigenous people of the United States. Over the years and through steadfast dialogue with community members and tribal leadership, she has built a network that has enabled research- and science-based change. Her innovative communication efforts have engaged various stakeholders in discussions of risks and prioritization of about 500 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation. She has been an engaged voice—and ear—for underserved communities for decades, traveling thousands of miles throughout the western United States and abroad to meet with and hear the concerns of disaffected populations. She recognized long ago that major gaps in scientific communication existed between the Western world and Native communities, and she heard communities’ mistrust of scientists and discomfort with Western medicine that belittled traditional healing and indigenous knowledge.

To address these multifaceted problems, Dr. Lewis has worked to change conventional academic approaches to better privilege indigenous knowledge and appreciate the deep cultural understanding of the relationship between humans and their natural environment. She built teams of talented researchers who also committed to developing cultural competencies acquired from years of work in tribal communities and launched a two-decade commitment to bringing young Native scientists into the university community. These innovations, which challenged long-held academic norms, resulted in better communication with tribal communities. They improved the ability to engage Native American communities to conduct essential research with and among families who still live near toxic, abandoned mine sites and whose lands, crops, and livestock were contaminated, posing threats to community health. By building diverse research teams with cultural knowledge, Dr. Lewis enabled an environment for sharing and understanding science. Furthermore, she observed that translating environmental health findings was inhibited among older Native Americans who spoke only their Native language, so most of the programs Dr. Lewis built include Navajo, Keres, Tewa, Towa, Zuni, or Sioux speakers as appropriate to further translation of both culture and language.

In addition, Dr. Lewis has developed innovative strategies for communication, including the inclusion of a local Zuni Pueblo artist to help explain concepts of Western science—like immunology or DNA damage—in a manner that applies Native symbolism for visuals. Beyond the heavy metal issues caused by abandoned mine sites, this resource has been vital in the campaign against COVID-19, with many communication strategies helping to explain the needs for face masks, hand washing, and social distancing.

Dr. Lewis has been an SOT member since 1994, is a frequently invited presenter at national scientific conferences, and has contributed invited policy testimony on the US state and national levels.

Toxicologist Mentoring Award

K. S. Rao, PhD, DABT

Eurofins/Advinus, Bangalore, India

K. S. Rao, PhD, DABT, has received the 2021 SOT Toxicologist Mentoring Award for his exemplary efforts to educate and train toxicologists in India.

Dr. Rao has more than 50 years of global experience in safety evaluation. He is an international expert in the toxicological assessment of agrochemicals, industrial chemicals, drug development, food additives, nutraceuticals, vaccines, medical devices, and cosmetic ingredients. He currently serves as the Subject Matter Expert—Safety Assessment at Eurofins/Advinus. The different positions that he held over an outstanding career introduced him to younger toxicologists with a fundamental need for mentoring and advice on their growth in the toxicological sciences.

In addition to devoted mentoring on the individual level, Dr. Rao has been instrumental in advancing toxicology in India as a whole. Since 2006, Dr. Rao has worked to meet the exceptional need to advise toxicologists at all levels of their careers in the growing Indian toxicology community. To this end, Dr. Rao has developed numerous seminars for young scientists, bringing to India well-recognized toxicologists from across the globe to advance the science of toxicology. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Rao has organized many training sessions in toxicology that have educated nearly 2,000 young toxicologists in India on topics such as safety pharmacology; toxicity, safety, and biocompatibility evaluation; comprehensive toxicology; risk assessment of personal care products; and pathology for toxicologists. He sponsored several students to attend these seminars using his own resources, offering opportunities that otherwise would not have been possible for those students.

Dr. Rao’s vision of mentoring the younger generation of toxicologists is perhaps best exemplified in his work to bring the DABT exam to India. Before Dr. Rao’s efforts that began in 2009, there were no board-certified toxicologists in India; at the time, the exam was not conducted in India, and the travel cost was prohibitory. Dr. Rao leveraged his reputation, network, and collaborative approach and was successful in persuading DABT management to initiate the exam in India—and this success has continued for the past decade, without any financial burden on the exam participants. In addition to his work in bringing the exam to India, Dr. Rao also was responsible for mentoring many candidates to prepare for the exam and career advancement. As a testament to Dr. Rao’s efforts, in the last decade, 100 candidates from India have passed the DABT examination, elevating these toxicologists and allied subjects to international standards.

Dr. Rao has been an SOT member since 1971 and was the first Indian toxicologist appointed as an Emeritus member. He also is a Past President of the Michigan Regional Chapter. In addition to his contributions to SOT, Dr. Rao is a recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award from the Society of Toxicology of India.

Translational Impact Award

Rebecca Fry, PhD

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Rebecca Fry, PhD, has been awarded the 2021 SOT Translational Impact Award for her outstanding vision for and leadership of several multidisciplinary team efforts to use translational research and community engagement to promote public health in the area of developmental toxicants.

Dr. Fry is a biologist by training, leading her laboratory to understand the role of the epigenome as a key integrator between the environment and disease. She received her PhD in biology from Tulane University in 2000 and performed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She currently serves as the Carol Remmer Angle Distinguished Professor in Children’s Environmental Health and the Associate Chair in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the Gillings School for Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). In addition to these roles, Dr. Fry directs both the UNC Institute for Environmental Health Solutions and the UNC Superfund Research Program.

Dr. Fry has focused a significant amount of her environmental health career on protecting populations from the harms of toxic substances. To understand mechanisms of toxicity with public health relevance, Dr. Fry’s laboratory uses transdisciplinary approaches—including human population–based research, cell culture–based research, and mouse model–based research. These combined approaches refine the understanding of chemical exposure and toxicity. Dr. Fry’s lab has published on a host of toxic substances, leading to the identification of epigenetic mechanisms that relate toxic substances to pregnancy complications, children’s health outcomes, and cancer outcomes.

Some of Dr. Fry’s most notable translational research includes her focus on the prevention of exposure to inorganic arsenic during pregnancy, as the protection of pregnant women and the developing infant have been a particular focus of her work. The significant public health issue of inorganic arsenic in North Carolina drinking water provided the basis for Dr. Fry to build a multidisciplinary team, the newly funded UNC Superfund Research Program, aimed at preventing inorganic arsenic–induced diabetes. This team has carried out extensive work with a direct influence on public health, deploying strategies to protect North Carolina communities at risk of consuming contaminated drinking water.

Dr. Fry also has provided information critical to the issue of cadmium-induced toxicity in the placenta and preeclampsia, showing that cadmium levels in the placenta are associated with increased risk for preeclampsia. To understand the mechanisms underlying this toxicity, Dr. Fry’s lab focused on elucidating the biological pathways by which cadmium influences placental growth and invasion. Her team identified microRNAs as critical regulators of trophoblast growth and invasion.

Beyond metals, some of Dr. Fry’s most recent translational work examines the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on pregnancy and placental toxicity. Focusing on a pregnancy cohort in North Carolina, her team identified risk factors associated with PFAS exposure. Exploring the toxicity associated with PFAS, the team recently highlighted that the mechanisms include the reduced capacity of the placental cells to invade.

Dr. Fry joined SOT in 2010 and is a member and Past President of the SOT Metals Specialty Section. She has published more than 170 journal articles and is the editor and co-author of several books on environmental toxicology and epigenetics. She has participated in multiple advisory committees and expert panels and has served as a reviewer for the US Food and Drug Administration and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Undergraduate Educator Award

Larissa Williams, PhD

Bates College, Lewiston, ME

Larissa Williams, PhD, has received the 2021 SOT Undergraduate Educator Award for her commitment to and creativity in fostering the toxicology education of undergraduate students.

Dr. Williams received her PhD in environmental toxicology from North Carolina State University in 2010 and performed her postdoctoral training at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Bates College Department of Biology, where she incorporates toxicology into her biology classroom and laboratory.

The mission of Dr. Williams’s research program is to foster discovery, innovation, and scholarship by undergraduates in molecular biology, developmental biology, and toxicology. Since arriving at Bates College in 2012, Dr. Williams has been the architect of seven new courses and has provided research opportunities for 36 students during the academic year and 21 students during the summer. To accommodate a wide range of students whose interests differ, her lab offers a variety of molecular-based projects, ranging from zebrafish to environmentally relevant organisms. Dr. Williams also has actively recruited students underrepresented in STEM for research experiences in her lab, and as a result of these efforts, about half of her students each year come from these backgrounds.

Dr. Williams has wholeheartedly embraced the teacher-scholar model; her involvement with student co-authors demonstrates her deep commitment to engaged student learning beyond the classroom. During her career at Bates College, Dr. Williams has published six peer-reviewed journal publications with 18 undergraduates as co-authors. Her students’ work also is presented at regional and national conferences, providing students with valuable presentation experience.

Since joining SOT as a graduate student in 2010, Dr. Williams has been a main contributor to several undergraduate-focused activities. In addition to volunteering as a mentor during the Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI) Undergraduate Diversity Program, Dr. Williams has served as a member and Chair of the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee. She also is very active within the Northeast Regional Chapter (NESOT). In 2017, Dr. Williams and a colleague organized an undergraduate program at the NESOT Regional Chapter meeting, the success of which led Dr. Williams to continue as an ad hoc member of the Undergraduate Education Subcommittee, tasked with increasing undergraduate activities at Regional Chapter meetings. Her efforts have been very effective, and other Regional Chapters have begun looking at the model created within NESOT to help increase undergraduate participation in their chapters.

Currently, Dr. Williams is the Co-Chair of the SOT Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education (FUTURE) Committee. Through this role, she works to ensure that the partnership with Regional Chapters and CDI continues and serves as a volunteer point person for colleges and universities that were part of the Undergraduate Consortium Task Force. In addition to her leadership within FUTURE, Dr. Williams is on the SOT Nominating Committee and is a Councilor for NESOT and the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section.

Toxicological Sciences Paper of the Year Award

Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Alterations in the Glycine N-Methyltransferase Gene in Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease–Associated Carcinogenesis

Barbara Borowa-Mazgaj, Aline de Conti, Volodymyr Tryndyak, Colleen R. Steward, Leandro Jimenez, Stepan Melnyk, Mulugeta Seneshaw, Faridodin Mirshahi, Ivan Rusyn, Frederick A. Beland, Arun J. Sanyal, and Igor P. Pogribny.
2019 Toxicological Sciences 170, no. 2 (August): 273–82. View Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming a major etiological risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States and other Western countries. Borowa-Mazgaj and colleagues investigated the role of gene-specific promoter cytosine DNA methylation and gene expression alterations in the development of NAFLD-associated hepatocellular carcinoma in mice. By comparing different mouse models of NAFLD, including a Stelic Animal Model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis–derived hepatocellular carcinoma, and a choline- and folate-deficient diet, they found that the development of NAFLD and its progression to hepatocellular carcinoma was characterized by downregulation of glycine N-methyltransferase (Gnmt). Further experiments with a panel of genetically diverse inbred mice confirmed that Gnmt downregulation was an early event in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and correlated with the extent of the NAFLD-like liver injury. Mechanistic in vitro experiments demonstrated that an increase in genome methylation led to the inhibition of Gnmt expression. Overall, their findings suggest that reduced Gnmt expression caused by promoter hypermethylation is one of the key molecular events in the development of NAFLD-derived hepatocellular carcinoma. Additionally, assessing Gnmt methylation level may be useful for disease stratification. This work illustrates the effective use of animal models and in vitro experiments combined with advanced genomic analyses to mechanistically study nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This well-written manuscript has made a significant positive impact on the field of toxicology. The Board of Publications proudly confers the Paper of the Year Award to Dr. Pogribny and the research team.