As the foremost experts on the effects of chemicals, biological substances, and more, toxicologists are key contributors to health regulation and laws. Law Professor and lawyer Claudia Polsky, University of California Berkeley, discusses how science can influence environmental health law, as well as environmental justice, with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner and reveals legal gaps in protecting public health.

About the Guest
Claudia Polsky, JD, MAS, is a Clinical Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Environmental Law Clinic.

Before launching the Clinic, Ms. Polsky spent 18 years as a public sector and public interest environmental litigator: 14 as a Deputy Attorney General in the Environment Section of the California Department of Justice and four at Earthjustice and Public Citizen Litigation Group. She has litigated cases in trial and appellate courts, including the US Supreme Court; testified before Congress and the California legislature; and drafted and successfully defended environmental regulations.

Ms. Polsky also served as Deputy Director for Pollution Prevention and Green Technology at California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. There, she managed a program that addressed an area of ongoing professional focus: reducing exposure to toxic chemicals throughout the supply chain, from workers to consumers and communities impacted by toxic waste.  The Environmental Law Clinic handles many toxics-reduction matters, ranging from pesticide exposure cases to the regulation of hazardous ingredients in consumer products. It also addresses other issues of environmental health and environmental justice, including climate justice and access to safe drinking water for all.

Ms. Polsky’s past environmental advocacy work has encompassed negotiating conservation easements for The Nature Conservancy; protecting threatened Pacific salmon populations through dam removal; obtaining an injunction to save 50 million national forest acres from logging and roadbuilding; and serving as a volunteer park ranger in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.

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While pharmaceuticals provide positive benefits for patients, what about workers that may be exposed during production? Elizabeth M. Vancza, Merck & Co. Inc., reveals to co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner the role of occupational toxicologists in understanding the exposure risks of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other substances that may affect worker health, as well as how to protect them from these exposures.

About the Guest
Elizabeth M. Vancza, PhD, DABT, is currently an Associate Director of Occupational Toxicology at Merck & Co. Inc., where she assists business operations in the areas of occupational toxicology, potent compound safety evaluation and awareness, product quality/safety, and hazard/risk assessment. Before joining Merck in 2021, she worked as an occupational toxicologist for SafeBridge Consultants for over 10 years, serving clients worldwide, primarily from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Dr. Vancza earned her PhD and MS degrees from New York University, with respective concentrations in inhalation toxicology and immunotoxicology, and she remains a guest lecturer for the graduate program in the areas of risk assessment and genomics. She also is an Associate Member of the Occupational Alliance for Risk Science (OARS) Workplace Environmental Exposure Level (WEEL) Committee.  

Dr. Vancza joined the Society of Toxicology (SOT) in 2004 and has remained an active member through her involvement on various committees and student outreach efforts for several Specialty Sections, Regional Chapters, and Special Interest Groups. She most recently completed a three-year term as Vice President (year one), President (year two), and Past President (year three) for the SOT Northeast Regional Chapter in 2021.

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How human activity, chemical exposures, and environmental factors combine to contribute to wildlife population declines is at the forefront of the research by Dr. Caroline Moore and other teams at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Dr. Moore unravels the role of toxicology in wildlife conservation with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner.

About the Guest
Caroline Moore, PhD, DVM, serves the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Scientist in Disease Investigations. In this role, she works as a veterinary toxicology researcher, providing molecular and diagnostic toxicology support. She uses toxicology, pathology, molecular diagnostics, and epidemiology to better understand how environmental contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and harmful algal blooms, create roadblocks to wildlife conservation and how to prevent them.

Dr. Moore is working on developing and applying environmental and diagnostic toxicology in Kenya, where pesticides are used indiscriminately; in Peru, where mining activities release mercury into the environment, impacting birds, bats, nonhuman primates, ocelots, and more; and in Zimbabwe, where harmful algal blooms may be an increasing threat. She is especially interested in developing noninvasive in situ diagnostic tests to better understand the challenges to endangered species and how toxicant exposures may impact future generations through altered epigenetics.

Dr. Moore earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, assisting with necropsies and research on the decline of the southern sea otter. She earned her doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology and her veterinary medical degree at the University of California Davis while on a US Environmental Protection Agency STAR grant investigating how globally present microcystins have toxic effects on the nervous system. She spent the next year as a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Los Angeles researching how environmental contaminants may cause reproductive toxicity through epigenetics, and the next two years as the SDZWA Steel Endowed Pathology Fellow, establishing successful ways to incorporate more toxicology into conservation field programs. 

Dr. Moore is an active member of the Society of Toxicology, the American College of Toxicology, and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, serving on committees and boards for comparative veterinary toxicology, early career professionals, diversity and inclusion, and regional support for Southern California. As an avid hiker, camper, and wildlife enthusiast, Dr. Moore has always felt the need to support conservation efforts through her research. 

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Even chocolate companies and wineries need toxicologists. Alexandria G. Lau, ToxStrategies Inc., has worked for both and shares her experiences with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner. They also discuss the research and development that goes into new food products and how toxicologists play a role in food safety.

About the Guest
Alexandria G. Lau, PhD, DABT, ToxStrategies Inc., is a toxicologist with a decade of experience in the food and beverage industry. She has extensive knowledge of global regulations related to consumer products, including pesticides (US Environmental Protection Agency), food and packaging (US Food and Drug Administration, European Food Safety Authority), and alcoholic beverages (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau). 

 Working for a prominent vineyard/winery, Dr. Lau managed the company’s global quality and food safety efforts, decreasing pesticide use and overseeing growers and vintners to ensure global regulatory compliance and supply chain flexibility. For a major food product manufacturer, she managed a large portfolio of products and food safety initiatives, developing and maintaining global policies, standards, and programs for everything from contaminant/allergen management to labeling and stakeholder communication. Dr. Lau also served at a senior level for a global manufacturer of consumer products, working in safety assessment and regulatory toxicology to support development of pest control products, ensuring regulatory compliance that included California Proposition 65.

 Dr. Lau earned her PhD in toxicology and pharmacology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. She maintains a current and robust body of expertise through frequent continuing education and participation in professional associations and scientific conferences. She is often an invited speaker for association and industry events, and she has published extensively in the scientific literature. She also serves as an invited reviewer for the journals Toxicology Research and Application and Toxicological Sciences.

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Biostatistics or data science for public health—whatever you choose to call it—informs understanding of the health and environmental impacts of exposures. Emory University’s Howard Chang discusses with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner the intricacies of interpreting data, the controversial P value, and the team science involved in studying public health challenges.

About the Guest
Howard Chang, PhD, is a Professor in the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, jointly appointed to the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health. He also serves as the Director of the Master’s Program in Biostatistics for Emory University.

Dr. Chang received a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia in 2004, followed by a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 2009. Before joining Emory University, he was a Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) postdoctoral fellow and worked with the North Carolina State University Department of Statistics and Children’s Environmental Health Initiative based at the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Chang’s primary research interest is in the development and application of statistical methods for analyzing complex spatial-temporal exposure and health data. His current projects focus on two broad areas of population health: (1) exposure assessment for air quality and extreme weather events, especially under a changing climate; and (2) health effect estimation and impact assessment leveraging large databases, such as birth/death certificates, hospital billing records, electronic health records, and disease surveillance systems. Dr. Chang also collaborates with colleagues for studies related to ecology, infectious disease, social epidemiology, and community intervention trials.

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With limited existing research on the effects of medications and exposures on lactation, Christina D. Chambers, University of California San Diego, shares work underway to better assess risks and benefits for mom and baby. Co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner also discuss with Dr. Chambers the tricky roles of epidemiology and observational studies.

About the Guest
Christina D. Chambers, PhD, MPH, is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and Co-director of the Center for Better Beginnings. She also is a Clinical Professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego, Vice Chair of Clinical Research in the UC San Diego Department of Pediatrics, Director of the UC San Diego CTRI Center for Life Course Research, and Director of Clinical Research at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego.

Dr. Chambers is a perinatal epidemiologist specializing in environmental causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes, birth defects, and childhood disabilities, with a special focus on human teratogens (environmental agents that cause birth defects or other adverse prenatal outcomes). She is currently conducting research on the prevention of alcohol-related birth defects, the safety in pregnancy of several new medications used for the treatment of maternal health conditions, and the safety of vaccines during pregnancy. Dr. Chambers serves as an advisor to national and international organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the US Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Studying the effects of metals in whales and alligators, among other species, can offer immense insight into human health, John P. Wise Sr. tells Adverse Reactions co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner. Dr. Wise also discusses research on chromosome instability and how you can help people everywhere make connections to the importance of environmental health.

About the Guest
John P. Wise Sr., PhD, is head of the Wise Laboratory of Environmental and Genetic Toxicology and Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Distinguished University Scholar, and Chair of the Center for Environmental and Occupational Health in the University of Louisville School of Medicine. His formal education includes a bachelor's degree in biology with high distinction and recognition from George Mason University and a PhD in pharmacology from the George Washington University. 

Dr. Wise’s postdoctoral training focused on molecular epidemiology under Curtis Harris at the National Cancer Institute, followed by experience with occupational health and risk assessment as a Senior Toxicologist at Jonathan Borak and Company. He served on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Southern Maine School of Public Health before joining the faculty at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Wise’s research focuses on understanding how environmental toxicants affect health and cause cancer from a “One Environmental Health” perspective, considering cellular and molecular mechanisms in both humans and wildlife. He has earned over $14 million in extramural support and published over 130 peer-reviewed research papers. His work has been featured in numerous articles in local, national, and international press and social media sites, including short documentaries with Alexandra Cousteau and Miles O’Brien.

Dr. Wise has mentored and trained over 200 faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students in biomedical and environmental health research. He fosters a diverse, supportive, multi-layered mentoring environment and is supported by an engaging and active team of faculty, staff, and students from a diverse array of backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. For his mentoring efforts, he was awarded the 2022 SOT Toxicologist Mentoring Award. His students have won numerous local, national, and international awards and grants and have gone onto successful careers in academia, government, industry, and nongovernmental organizations. 

Dr. Wise also has earned the Metals Career Achievement Award from the SOT Metals Specialty Section and education awards from both SOT and the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS).

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How do you set exposure limits to protect human health in a closed container floating in space? Valerie Ryder, a toxicologist at the NASA Johnson Space Center, takes co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner into the small world of space toxicologists, where they also discuss research involving lunar dust, bone loss, and CO2.

About the Guest
Valerie Ryder, PhD, DABT, is a board-certified toxicologist with the NASA Johnson Space Center. She received a BA in chemistry with a minor in microbiology from Texas A&M University in 2000 and a PhD in pathology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2004.  

As an undergraduate, Dr. Ryder worked in the oceanography department in the laboratory of Dr. Luis Cifuentes. As a graduate student, she supported the dynamically controlled protein crystal growth shuttle flight experiment on STS-105 and studied altered differentiation of adult stem cells in modeled microgravity under the NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program. 

After completing her graduate work, Dr. Ryder worked briefly as a scientific writer before joining the toxicology group at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2005. In 2008, she accepted a position as a toxicologist with Wyle’s Integrated Science and Engineering Group. In 2010, Dr. Ryder became a NASA Civil Servant and took over as the lead for the toxicology group in 2014. She leads a team of toxicologists who work to ensure that the air and water onboard spacecraft are safe for crew health.

Disclaimer
The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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From vaping to wildfire smoke to pollutants such as diesel exhaust to airborne diseases, the lungs are the organ most exposed to our external environment, according to Ilona Jaspers of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Jaspers also introduces co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner to convergence science, a new approach to interdisciplinary work meant to bring disparate experts together.

About the Guest

Ilona Jaspers, PhD, is a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) in the Department of Pediatrics; Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology; and Division of Infectious Diseases, with joint appointments in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology as well as Environmental Sciences and Engineering. She received her undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University and her PhD in environmental health sciences from New York University. Dr. Jaspers came to UNC-CH to conduct her postdoctoral studies in the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology. 

Dr. Jaspers has a long-standing interest in the adverse health effects induced by inhaled pollutant exposures, especially how they affect respiratory immune responses. As the Director of the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology, Dr. Jaspers collaborates extensively with investigators from UNC-CH and the US Environmental Protection Agency to conduct translational studies related to air pollution health effects. Using translational human in vitro and in vivo models, research in Dr. Jaspers’s laboratory focuses on the mechanisms by which exposure to air pollutants such as ozone, woodsmoke, cigarette smoke, and e-cigarettes modifies host defense responses. 

Dr. Jaspers also is the Director of the Curriculum in Toxicology, overseeing the training and mentoring of graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows. She is passionate about training the next generation of scientists, always encouraging trainees to get involved in non-laboratory events, such as community outreach service, K–12 education, or public health activities. She is an expert on the health effects of vaping and toxicities of e-cigarette components and has been active in the community to educate parents, teachers, health care providers, and teenagers about the dangers of vaping.

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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With pre-print services, data sharing, open access, and the internet rapidly changing the journal publication landscape, Toxicological Sciences Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey M. Peters provides co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner with perspective on how journals are adapting to the times. Dr. Peters also details how new training and guidance programs at ToxSci are aiming to enhance submissions and peer reviews.

About the Guest

Jeffrey M. Peters, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of molecular toxicology and carcinogenesis in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). He also serves as Deputy Director of the Penn State Cancer Institute, where his role is to catalyze collaborations among cancer researchers across Penn State’s colleges and campuses.

Dr. Peters has served on many editorial boards, including that of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Toxicological Sciences, the official journal of the Society of Toxicology (SOT).

Dr. Peters joined Penn State in 2000 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in dietetics and a doctorate in nutrition science, both from the University of California Davis. Dr. Peters also completed postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy and the Institute of Toxicology and Environmental Health at UC-Davis.

Dr. Peters holds long-standing NCI funding for his research program related to cancer and lipid metabolism. His laboratory studies the role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in the regulation of homeostasis, toxicology, and carcinogenesis. PPARs are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily and are critical modulators of environmental and dietary stimuli. The lab is particularly interested in delineating how natural compounds found in dietary constituents can activate PPARs, with the goal of identifying new molecules/proteins that can be targeted with existing approaches to improve the efficacy of chemoprevention and chemotherapy. These studies will likely lead to the identification of specific macronutrients that will effectively activate PPARs so that dietary formulations of agricultural products can be developed that will improve human and animal health and prevent serious diseases.

Dr. Peters also is the Associate Director of the Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis at Penn State and was previously the co-leader of the Cancer Institute’s Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis research program.

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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Margaret “Meg” H. Whittaker, Managing Director and Chief Toxicologist of ToxServices LLC, outlines the similarities and differences between risk assessment, alternative assessments, and green chemistry. Co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner also discover how alternative assessments can lead to safer and more sustainable products that protect animal, human, and environmental health and the importance of diversifying your portfolio when you’re a student or early career researcher.

About the Guest

Margaret H. Whittaker, PhD, MPH, CBiol, FRSB, ERT, DABT, has over 20 years of experience in both the performance and management of toxicology and human health hazard and risk assessment–related projects. She is currently the Managing Director and Chief Toxicologist of ToxServices LLC, where she serves as the project manager and technical lead of ToxServices projects for the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice Program, Clean Production Action’s GreenScreen, international certification organizations, testing laboratories, and consumer products companies that manufacture and test products such as food additives, food contact materials, cleaning chemicals, fragrance agents, electronics, cosmetics, dietary supplements, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and drinking water additives. As project manager and technical lead for contracts with these organizations, Dr. Whittaker has contributed to and/or managed the development of hundreds of human health risk assessments, chemical hazard assessments, and exposure assessments, as well as hundreds of product-specific toxicology evaluations.

Dr. Whittaker is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and earned a PhD in toxicology from the University of Maryland Baltimore and an MPH in environmental health from the University of Michigan. Dr. Whittaker is a UK/EUROTOX Registered Toxicologist, as well as a Chartered Biologist and Fellow of the UK Royal Society of Biology. Dr. Whittaker has built her career on a foundation grounded in leadership and adherence to details and timelines. One of her first career awards (1992) was a United States Coast Guard Commandant’s Award for Outstanding Civilian Service, through which her “alacrity and tenacity” displayed while working on projects associated with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 were officially recognized.

In addition to her extensive program management experience, Dr. Whittaker has extensive technical experience in hazard identification and non-cancer and cancer dose-response assessment, including quantitative risk assessment (e.g., benchmark dose modeling for both carcinogens and noncarcinogens). She specializes in conducting chemical hazard assessments and chemical alternatives assessments. Before creating ToxServices in 2003, she worked at two of the country’s leading toxicology and risk assessment consulting firms (the ENVIRON Corporation and the Weinberg Group).
 

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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Ohio State University’s Darryl B. Hood reveals how a database with about 25,000 environmental factors and variables associated with the public health exposome may soon lead to major breakthroughs in addressing disparate public health outcomes in various communities. He also shares with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner his experiences from a lifetime of firsts—from being a plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education to transitioning from an HBCU (historically black college and university) to a program where he was the only Black man.

About the Guest

Darryl B. Hood, PhD, is an Associate Professor and environmental neuroscientist in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences in the Ohio State University College of Public Health. 

Dr. Hood received a BS in biology and chemistry from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a PhD in biochemistry from the Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center in Molecular Toxicology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1993, Dr. Hood accepted a position at Meharry Medical College and served meritoriously until 2013 on the faculty of both Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience. During this time, he received over $11.2 million dollars of research funding. 

From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Hood led what has come to be known as the most successful Minority S11 NIEHS-sponsored initiative, referred to as the Advanced Research Cooperation in Environmental Health (ARCH) Program. The research conducted under this consortium ultimately contributed to the scientific database that the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) used to reassess the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions from smokestacks. Such reassessments have resulted in public policy changes that will serve to decrease the adverse health effects associated with environmental exposures. The Meharry Medical College-Vanderbilt University ARCH Consortium was recognized as being at the interface of successful P01-like research programs in general, and for systems toxicology research in particular. This construct served as the template that then–NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni used as the viable, futuristic model for the development of effective scientist-to-scientist interactions between research-intensive universities and historically black colleges and universities.

At the Ohio State University, Dr. Hood has continued his innovation in discovery as the co-architect of the novel Public Health Exposome framework. This paradigm-altering framework interrogates hypotheses focused on determining if there are associations between the built, natural, and social environments and disparate health outcomes observed in vulnerable populations. 

Collectively, Dr. Hood has 105 peer-reviewed publications, including book chapters, and has mentored over 15 MSPH/MPH candidates, 15 PhD candidates, and nine postdoctoral fellows. He continues to serve on numerous editorial and review boards for scientific journals, government agencies, and academia. Most recently, from 2010 to 2016, he served on the US EPA Exposure and Human Health Subcommittee of the Science Advisory Board.

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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Nanoparticles are manmade fibers, particulates, and other objects that are so small that when inhaled, they can escape the lungs and enter other body systems. Timothy Nurkiewicz, West Virginia University, studies the effects of these and other particulars. He discusses his inhalation and nanotoxicology research, as well as work with the National Guard on developing facemasks to protect against airborne diseases, with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner.

About the Guest
Timothy R. Nurkiewicz, PhD, is the E.J. Van Liere Medicine Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the WVU Inhalation Facilities and Center for Inhalation Toxicology (iTOX) and has been a guest researcher with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health since 2008.

Dr. Nurkiewicz’s research is in the fields of microvascular physiology and toxicology, with specific focus on pulmonary exposure to particulate matter and engineered nanomaterials. His research program pioneered novel investigations in the field of maternal nanomaterial exposures and fetal microvascular ramifications. Through iTOX, his lab and team are able to replicate the atmospheres that humans are exposed to in order to advance understanding of their acute and chronic toxicities.

Dr. Nurkiewicz earned a BS in exercise and sport science from Pennsylvania State University, a MS in exercise physiology from WVU, and a PhD in physiology from WVU. He completed postdocs at Texas A&M University and WVU. Currently, Dr. Nurkiewicz serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers—Vascular Physiology and Particle and Fibre Toxicology and is a founding member and Past President of the SOT Cardiovascular Toxicology Specialty Section.

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Epigenetics expert Dana C. Dolinoy of the University of Michigan School of Public Health illuminates how our nascent understanding of the epigenome is leading to breakthroughs in understanding the causes—and potential treatment—of some public health problems. Co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner also talk with Dr. Dolinoy about the collaborative science happening in the field and what the future holds for epigenetics.

About the Guest

Dana C. Dolinoy, PhD, 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 effect 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 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. 

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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Retired National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Director and lifelong federal scientist Linda S. Birnbaum discusses the intersection of policy and science, as well as the effect of environmental exposures on public health, with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner. Dr. Birnbaum also shares her insights on how to be an effective leader and the importance of mentorship. 

About the Guest

Linda S. Birnbaum, PhD, DABT, ATS, is the former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). After retirement, she was granted scientist emeritus status and still maintains a laboratory. As a board-certified toxicologist, Dr. Birnbaum served as a federal scientist for 40 years. Before her appointment as NIEHS and NTP Director in 2009, she spent 19 years at the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), where she directed the largest division focusing on environmental health research. 

Dr. Birnbaum has received many awards and recognitions. In 2016, she was awarded the North Carolina Award in Science. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. She was also elected to the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent, international academy composed of internationally renowned experts in the fields of occupational and environmental health, and received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Rochester and a Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Illinois. Dr. Birnbaum also has received honorary doctorates from Ben-Gurion University in Israel, Amity University in India, and the University of Rhode Island; the Surgeon General’s Medallion 2014; and 14 Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards, which reflect the recommendations of the US EPA external Science Advisory Board, for specific publications. 

Dr. Birnbaum is an active member of the scientific community. She was Vice President of the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX), the umbrella organization for toxicology societies in more than 50 countries, and she is a Past President of the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the largest professional organization of toxicologists in the world. She is the author of more than 800 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and reports. 

Dr. Birnbaum’s research focuses on the pharmacokinetic behavior of environmental chemicals, mechanisms of action of toxicants including endocrine disruption, and linking real-world exposures to health effects. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Curriculum in Toxicology, and the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as in the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program at Duke University, where she also is a Scholar in Residence.

A native of New Jersey, Dr. Birnbaum received her MS and PhD in microbiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Disclaimer

The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society.

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Meet co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner as they explore the origins of Adverse Reactions, how people are at the heart of all science, and why the science of toxicology is more relevant than ever.

About Anne

After graduating from the University of Delaware with a BS in biology in 1991, Anne Chappelle accidentally found her calling when she worked a gap year in an industrial toxicology laboratory. As it turned out, toxicology was the perfect marriage of protecting both human health and the environment. She then went on to receive her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the (now) University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 1997, focusing on upper respiratory tract toxicity.

For the last 20+ years, as a toxicologist and risk assessment expert for the chemical industry, Anne has been thrilled to not work in a laboratory anymore. Along the way, she has added a few more titles: spouse; DABT; Principal of Chappelle Toxicology Consulting, LLC; occasional blogger at My Toxic Life; and most life changing (and expensive): Mom. She is thrilled to be partnered with David to add podcast co-host to the list because it gives her the opportunity to “channel my inner Terry Gross.”

About David

David Faulkner’s interest in science started at age five with a few Bill Nye the Science Guy VHS tapes and hasn’t diminished since. A lifelong artist and science fan, David has worked in nearly every mass communication medium to share his love of science with the world. Now, as an early career toxicologist, David is living out his dream of co-hosting a science podcast! With a budget! And a producer! And super cool guests! And an awesome co-host! David thinks Bill would be proud.

David attended the University of Michigan, where he completed a BS in microbiology, a BA in English language (emphasis in creative writing), and an MPH in environmental health sciences, and the University of California Berkeley, where he completed a PhD in molecular toxicology under the supervision of Dr. Chris Vulpe. He has held postdoctoral appointments at the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and just started a new position as a toxicological risk assessor. He also is a full-time parent to two adorable purple velvet plants: Planthony Bourdain and Marie Planthoinette.


Disclaimer
The viewpoints and information presented in Adverse Reactions represent those of the participating individuals. Although the Society of Toxicology holds the copyright to the production, it does not vet or review the information presented, nor does presenting and distributing the Adverse Reactions podcast represent any proposal or endorsement of any position by the Society. 

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Blood samples and health records for 15,000 pregnancies provides a wealth of scientific data. Add samples and records from the resultant children and grandchildren, and you have an invaluable cohort with which you can study the long-term results of events that occur during pregnancy. Barbara Cohn with the Public Health Institute is the Director of such a cohort and discusses it with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner, including what she and colleagues have discovered about the generational effects of exposure to DDT and other substances.

About the Guest
Barbara A. Cohn, PhD, is Director of the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) at the Public Health Institute. CHDS is home to a groundbreaking study, which originated in 1959, designed to shed light on the various factors impacting health during pregnancy and early childhood. Between 1959 and 1967, 15,000 pregnant women and their families were enrolled. Researchers continue to study these rich data and conduct important follow-up studies to further examine how events during pregnancy impact the subsequent health of fathers, mothers, and their children and grandchildren. Dr. Cohn consults with researchers around the world on the use of the CHDS data for health research.

In addition, Dr. Cohn directs research examining how pregnancy protects against breast cancer and influences other health problems in mothers and their children in order to identify natural protective mechanisms that can be used for prevention. She also investigates whether early life exposure to environmental chemicals during pregnancy affects obesity, immune function, reproductive health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodevelopment, cancer, and health disparities in mothers and their children across the life span.

Dr. Cohn holds a doctorate in epidemiology, a master’s degree in city and regional planning, a master’s degree in public health planning, and a bachelor’s degree in zoology, all from the University of California, Berkeley.

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The fields of epidemiology and toxicology sometimes find themselves at odds, but Gradient’s Julie Goodman, an epidemiologist and toxicologist, shares how the two disciplines can complement each other to evaluate public health risks. Dr. Goodman also dives into the finer points of systemic reviews and meta-analyses in her conversation with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner.

About the Guest
Julie E. Goodman, PhD, DABT, FACE, ATS, is an epidemiologist and board-certified toxicologist with over 20 years of experience.  She is a Principal with Gradient and applies her multidisciplinary expertise to evaluate human health risks associated with chemical exposures in a variety of contexts, including products, foods, and medical applications, as well occupational and environmental exposures.  

Dr. Goodman is a fellow of both the American College of Epidemiology and the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.  She was also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, where she taught a class on meta-analysis for several years.  Before joining Gradient, she was a Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute.  

Dr. Goodman has authored numerous original peer-reviewed research articles, review articles (including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and weight-of-evidence evaluations), and book chapters on a wide variety of chemicals and health outcomes. She has presented her work to a wide variety of audiences.

Dr. Goodman obtained her master's in epidemiology and PhD in toxicology from Johns Hopkins University.

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When it comes to hormones, everyone has them all, but their levels are where things get interesting. How chemicals affect estrogen signaling in the brain is the research focus of Troy Roepke, Rutgers, who talks to co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner about how gender is not easily defined biologically, what it is like to be a “fabulously queer” professor, and how science can better serve the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.

About the Guest
Troy Roepke, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences Department of Animal Sciences, where their research goal is for a greater understanding of the interaction between novel steroid (estrogen) signaling pathways, neuroendocrine functions, maternal and adult diets, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals on homeostatic functions controlled by the hypothalamus, as well as the long-term consequences of maternal exposures to low doses of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in model species and how these maternal exposures may affect normal adult offspring physiological functions.

In addition to their teaching and lab duties, Dr. Roepke serves as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. Dr. Roepke believes one of the most important aspects of being an openly queer professor is to create a lab environment that is supportive of all historically excluded students and trainees, especially LGBTQ+ students. They believe that great science happens when one creates a supportive, diverse, and inclusive environment that prioritizes teamwork, positivity, and respect wherein each team member feels welcomed and encouraged to bring their true authentic selves to the lab.

Dr. Roepke received a doctorate in physiology with a designated emphasis in reproductive biology from the University of California Davis in 2005. Their postdoctoral training was at Oregon Health & Science University, studying the neuroendocrinology of estrogens from 2005 to 2011 where they were the recipient of a K99/R00 Pathways to Independence Award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to study how endocrine disruptors influence metabolism. 

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Since the discovery of cannabinoid receptors in the mid-1990s, researchers have been trying to determine their role and how they affect the immune system. Barbara Kaplan, Mississippi State University, discusses research in this area with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner and also shares what scientists are discovering about CBD, vaping, THC, and more.

About the Guest
Barbara Kaplan, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University. She got her BS in environmental toxicology at University of California Davis and her PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from Michigan State University. Before starting her own lab at Mississippi State, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago and worked as a Research Assistant Professor at Michigan State. Her transition from MSU to MSU was easy!

The focus of her lab is trying to understand effects and mechanisms by which drugs and chemicals affect the immune system. She has National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to study aryl hydrocarbon receptor ligands on antibody signaling and also has been studying the immune effects of marijuana chemicals for more than 20 years. Her work was some of the first to suggest that cannabidiol (CBD) exhibited immune suppressive effects through a mechanism similar to other well-known drugs, such as cyclosporin.

With the passage of the Farm Bill that legalized CBD from hemp and US Food and Drug Administration approval of a CBD-containing therapy for epilepsy, information—and misinformation—about CBD and other marijuana chemicals has exploded. Therefore, she has been active in obtaining and practicing her science communication skills. She attended the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science bootcamp at Stony Brook University in 2017 and got to meet with Mr. Alda when he gave a presentation at Mississippi State University in 2018. She has been involved with many workshops and other training sessions since then, including a recent interactive Continuing Education course for SOT in which attendees learned some basic science communication skills, presented an aspect of their science in small groups, and then received constructive feedback in real time.

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Because of natural exposure to wildfire smoke, nonhuman primates have provided an increased understanding of the long-term effects of smoke inhalation during infancy, shares Lisa Miller, University of California Davis (UC Davis). Dr. Miller also discusses with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner the importance of animal models in human health research and how nonhuman primates can be good models for vaccine testing, as was the case with COVID-19.

About the Guest
Lisa A. Miller, PhD, is a Professor for the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and serves as the Respiratory Diseases Unit Leader for the California National Primate Research Center. She also is the principal investigator or co-investigator for 15 active research grants.

Dr. Miller’s research focuses on investigating the impact of environmental exposures (air pollution, allergens, microbes) on pulmonary and immune system development during the first year of life. She uses both cell culture approaches and animal models to address questions related to mucosal immune mechanisms in pediatric populations, with an emphasis on understanding the etiology of childhood asthma and susceptibility to infectious disease.

Dr. Miller earned her BS and PhD from UC Davis and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Stanford University School of Medicine.

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With nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affecting nearly a third of the US population, Luma Melo, University of Pittsburgh, describes how mouse studies have shown that low-impact exercise can help reverse liver damage. Dr. Melo also shares with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner how research funding works in her native Brazil and the role of Brazilian women in toxicology.

About the Guest
Luma Melo, PhD, University of Pittsburgh, started her scientific career in her native Brazil, earning a master’s degree in physics from the University of São Paulo, where she also served as an Associated Instructor. She then earned a master’s degree in the philosophy of science and medicine and a PhD in environmental health from Indiana University in the United States.

Dr. Melo’s research focuses on liver disease (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease) and exercise. She is exploring mode of action and genetic expression related to how exercise and environmental chemicals modulate the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, as well as liver fibrosis and the mechanisms and determinants of mortality of alcoholic liver disease through translational studies including human samples and experimental models of liver disease. She also has conducted research involving aerobic exercise and breast cancer and published a book on quantum physics for laypeople titled But After All … What Is Quantum Physics?

Dr. Melo is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an Adjunct Professor with Ball State University.

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While no longer national news, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still impacting the ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico and the livelihoods of the communities that rely upon the gulf’s aquatic life, as Robert “Joe” Griffitt of the University of Southern Mississippi reveals. Dr. Griffitt and co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner discuss how ecotoxicology is both an applied and a basic science, as well as how scientific discovery is not always a linear process.

About the Guest
Robert “Joe” Griffitt, PhD, is a Professor at and Director of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Ocean Science and Engineering. 

Ecotoxicology, toxicogenomics, and bioinformatics are the focus of Dr. Griffitt’s research. Specifically, his lab investigates the impacts of metallic nanoparticles in aquatic and marine ecosystems and the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the northern Gulf of Mexico. In both cases, his lab uses a combination of molecular and whole-animal endpoints to try to assess toxicological impacts at both cellular and organism levels. 

Dr. Griffitt earned a BS in marine biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and an MS in marine science and a PhD in environmental science from the University of South Carolina. He completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Florida. 

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Whether its found in nature or composed by chemists a sweetener undergoes the same evaluations, according to Corey Scott, PhD, Principal Nutritionist, Cargill. Dr. Scott explains to co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, how all sweeteners must be able to replace multiple properties inherit in sugar, such as taste, nutritional content, and binding properties.

About the Guest
Corey Scott, PhD, is a Principal Nutrition Scientist with Cargill in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he leads global nutritional research on sweeteners and carbohydrates. Prior to this role, he was Global Nutrition Manager for Lipid Nutrition BV in the Netherlands, focusing on clinical research involving novel lipids for early life nutrition, weight management, and diabetes. Dr. Scott has also worked for General Mills in Golden Valley, Minnesota, as a nutrition scientist at The Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. He currently serves as a steering team member and work package leader for Project SWEET (a five-year EU Consortium project evaluating sweeteners). He is the Chair of the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences Low- and Non-caloric Sweetener Committee, Chair of the North Carolina Agricultural and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University Technical Advisory and Finance Committee, and an industry advisor for the University and Industry Consortium/Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Sally Rockey Fellowship. Dr. Scott holds a doctorate degree in food science and nutrition from Ohio State University, a master’s degree in chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

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Co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner speak with William J. Sullivan, PhD, Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Professor of Microbiology & Immunology with the Indiana University School of Medicine, about toxic parasites lying dormant in your brain and the power and importance of science communication.

About the Guest
Bill Sullivan, PhD, has been studying the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii since he was a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. David Roos at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. He completed postdoctoral fellowships with Dr. Chuck Smith at ELANCO (a division of Eli Lilly, Co.) and Dr. Sherry Queener at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He became an Assistant Professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2003. Dr. Sullivan is now the Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Microbiology & Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Sullivan’s lab studies cellular signaling and the regulation of gene expression in a fascinating protozoan parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma causes congenital birth defects as well as opportunistic infection in HIV/AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, and heart transplant patients. There is also emerging evidence that this parasitic infection may be linked to neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and behavior modification. While the acute stage of toxoplasmosis can be treated, the ability of the parasite to convert into latent tissue cysts prevents eradication of the infection from the patient. Unfortunately, if immunity wanes, the patient can relapse and suffer additional episodes of life-threatening acute infection. Additionally, toxoplasma is a serious threat to some wildlife and livestock.

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Can two people experience the same exposure and have different reactions to both chemical and non-chemical stressors? Yes, according to Samantha "Sam" Snow and a team of toxicologists, epidemiologists, exposure scientists, and others who assess risk. Dr. Snow talks with co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, about exposure science, new approach methodologies, and forming the SOT Out Toxicologists and Allies Special Interest Group.

About the Guest
Samantha Snow, PhD, DABT, is a Director of Toxicology at ICF specializing in risk assessment projects, toxicological and epidemiological study summaries and reviews, literature reviews, technical writing, hazard assessments, and health and risk communication. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the US EPA Cardiopulmonary Immunology Branch, where her research interests were wide and included examining neuroendocrine regulation of ozone-induced cardiopulmonary, systemic, and metabolic responses. Dr. Snow has a PhD in toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is certified as a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. She has been an active member of SOT since 2010, serving in the following capacities: Out Toxicologists and Allies Founding Member (2019) and President (2022–2023); Postdoctoral Assembly Chair (2017–2018); North Carolina Regional Chapter Councilor (2016–2018) and Postdoctoral Representative (2013–2015); and more.

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Fish on treadmills? Lisa Truong, PhD, MBA, Oregon State University, discusses the unique ways that they test exposure effects using zebrafish. Co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, also ask her about the benefits of having an MBA as a scientist.

About the Guest
The overall goal of Lisa Truong's research program is to utilize the zebrafish model to help build computational predictive toxicity models. Secondarily, she aims to move the field to be less reliant on animal testing and to conduct toxicity-testing based on toxicity pathways.

Dr. Truong has a Bachelor’s degree in pre-pharmacy with a minor in chemistry, which provided the foundation to evaluate a structurally diverse class of fluorinated compounds during her Master's studies. Her PhD thesis was focused on developing rapid in vivo assays to investigate structure response relationships using larval and adult zebrafish. Using the methods that Dr. Truong developed, the zebrafish developmental toxicity screen is now fully automated at the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory (SARL). 

During Dr. Truong's postdoctoral training at the US Environmental Protection Agency, she developed systemic toxicity models while working within the then-National Center for Computational Toxicology and L’Oreal. She built numerous models using the high-throughput data generated from over 800 assays and became adept at programming in R and in advanced statistics. 

More recently, since her recruitment as the Deputy Director of the SARL, Dr. Truong has begun to build robust statistical methods to integrate multi-dimensional phenotypic and expression zebrafish data and has helped to streamline data collection which has further increased the throughput which is critical for this proposal. 

In summary, for nearly a decade, Dr. Truong has developed advanced zebrafish as a premier model for environmental health sciences research. The research is now at a point to begin mining the data to develop models to prioritize and predict toxicity of chemicals/nanoparticles/mixtures that have insufficient hazard information.

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From Superfund remediation sites near neighborhoods to wartime combat zones, toxicology is everywhere, which is why many states employ toxicologists on their public health teams. Co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, speak with Julie Miller, PhD, Public Health Toxicologist for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, about the impacts of stress and environmental exposures on public health.

About the Guest
Julie Miller, PhD, Public Health Toxicologist, Pennsylvania Department of Public Health, is a board-certified toxicologist with primary training and expertise in analytical chemistry, in vitro and alternative methods, toxicology study design, data analysis and interpretation, and mixtures toxicology. Dr. Miller has significant experience supporting regulatory submissions of consumer products for toxicological, analytical chemistry, and human health risk assessment and has demonstrated expertise in review and derivation of occupational exposure limits (OELs) and permissible exposure limits (PELs) for various industries, exposure assessment for consumer products, and analytical method development and analysis for quantification of tire particles in environmental matrices. Dr. Miller has also managed occupational health and safety projects related to employee stress, sleep deprivation, and traumatic injury in the workplace.

Dr. Miller received her PhD from the Department of Chemistry at West Virginia University, where her dissertation utilized early cellular changes to explore biological responses to individual chemical and mixture exposures. Dr. Miller received postdoctoral training at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH), where she evaluated neurobiochemical alterations in vivo after exposure to a mixture of stress and occupational and/or environmental chemical insult to further elucidate the role stress plays in physiological response to external stimuli.

Dr. Miller has over 50 published manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters related to in vitro and in vivo toxicology. 

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Did you know that there are scientists who study teamwork? Co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, DABT, speak with Stephen Fiore, PhD, Director, Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, about the art and science of working in teams and what you can do to improve teamwork in your lab, department, etc.

About the Guest
Stephen M. Fiore, PhD, is Director, Cognitive Sciences Laboratory, and Professor with the University of Central Florida's Cognitive Sciences Program in the Department of Philosophy and School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training. He maintains a multidisciplinary research interest that incorporates aspects of the cognitive, social, organizational, and computational sciences in the investigation of learning and performance in individuals and teams. His primary area of research is the interdisciplinary study of complex collaborative cognition and the understanding of how humans interact socially and with technology.

Dr. Fiore is Immediate Past President of the International Network for the Science of Team Science, and Past President for the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research. In 2018, Dr. Fiore was nominated to DARPA's Information Sciences and Technology (ISAT) Study Group to help the Department of Defense examine future areas of technological development potentially influencing national security. He has been a visiting scholar for the study of shared and extended cognition at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in Lyon, France (2010), and an invited visitor to the internationally renowned interdisciplinary Santa Fe Institute (2013). He was a member of the expert panel for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which focused on collaborative problem-solving skills. He has contributed to working groups for the National Academies of Sciences in understanding and measuring "21st-Century Skills" and was a committee member of their "Science of Team Science" consensus study, as well as a member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress report on "Collaborative Problem Solving".

Dr. Fiore has been awarded the University of Central Florida (UCF) prestigious Research Incentive Award four times to acknowledge his significant accomplishments, and he is recipient of UCF's Luminary Award (2019), as recognition for his work having a significant impact on the world, and UCF's Reach for the Stars Award (2014), as recognition for bringing international prominence to the university.

As Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Fiore has helped to secure and manage approximately $35 million in research funding. He is co-author of a book on “Accelerating Expertise” (2013) and is a co-editor of volumes on Shared Cognition (2012), Macrocognition in Teams (2008), Distributed Training (2007), and Team Cognition (2004). Dr. Fiore has also co-authored over 200 scholarly publications in the area of learning, memory, and problem solving in individuals and groups.

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Sometimes negative results can be just as interesting as positive ones. Nivetha Subramaniam, a student at McGill University, discusses her research regarding the potential cardiovascular risks from exposure to mixtures of arsenic and cadmium with co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD.

About the Guest
Nivetha Kamalavannan Subramaniam is a PhD student at McGill University in Canada. She is the recipient of the McGill Dr. Morris Karmazyn and Dr. Margaret P. Moffat Fellowship in Cardiovascular Research. The title of her PhD thesis project is "The Pro-atherogenic Effects of Arsenic and Cadmium Mixtures."

Ms. Subramaniam serves as the Graduate Student Representative for the SOT Metals Specialty Section, and in 2023, she received the second place prize from the SOT Metals Specialty Section Student Research Award Fund.

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Noah Whiteman, PhD, a professor at UC Berkeley, shares his unique perspective on toxins, stemming from his background in entomology and plant-insect interactions. He explores how toxins impact the ecology and evolution of various organisms, from insects to humans, with co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD.

About the Guest
Noah Whiteman, PhD, is Professor of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology and the Department of Integrative Biology at University of California (UC) Berkeley. His laboratory focuses on understanding why and how organisms deploy toxins as weapons that they use in offense and defense. Dr. Whiteman is Co-director of the NIH T32 Genetic Dissection of Cells and Organisms Training Program that provides training to 16 PhD students in genetics.

Dr. Whiteman conducted his dissertation research in the Galapagos Islands on co-evolution between birds and their parasites. He then completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard where he began to use plants as model hosts that were attacked by diverse parasites. At UC Berkeley, his laboratory focuses on how plants have evolved to produce diverse toxins as defensive shields and how insects have evolved in response to resist and even sequester them. He uses genomics and genome editing as a tool to ascertain which genetic changes are responsible for these co-evolved traits.

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From studying polluted waters off the coast of California to explaining the feasibility of a fungal-based zombie outbreak at San Diego Comic Con, Kari Sant, PhD, Michigan State University, discusses her passion projects with co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, DABT, and David Faulkner, PhD, DABT. Dr. Sant also reveals what it is like to start a new lab when you change institutions.

About the Guest
Kari Sant, PhD, is an Associate Professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in biology and environmental science, her Master of Public Health in environmental health, and her PhD in toxicology from the University of Michigan. She formerly served as an Assistant and Associate Professor in San Diego State University's School of Public Health and served on the board of directors for the Boz Institute (San Diego, California). 

Dr. Sant's research program investigates environmental toxicology using a One Health framework. She uses the zebrafish model to study developmental toxicology, with an emphasis on pancreatic organogenesis and the developmental origins of diabetes. She leads and co-leads a number of studies investigating the toxicity of water contaminants in communities and how exposures may impact embryonic and child development.

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