Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program News University of California, Riverside

Vasundra Bahl receives award at SCCSOT meeting

2012-01-26T15:03:00.000-08:00

Vasundhra Bahl, a 2nd-year graduate student working in Dr. Prue Talbot's lab, won the 3rd place award in the student poster competition at the Southern California Chapter of the Society of Toxicology fall meeting that took place on Oct. 7, 2011. Her poster was entitled, "Smoke and Chemicals from Cigarettes Impair Stem Cell Growth". Our congratulations to Vasundhra for this nice recognition of her research.

Seasons Greetings from Riverside

2011-12-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Below are a few pictures from this year's Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn.

A few Christmas trees in Southern California style

Yinsheng Wang Elected as AAAS Fellow

2011-12-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Our congratulations to Prof. Yinsheng Wang, Director of the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program at UC Riverside, who has recently been named as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Wang was selected due to his “For distinguished contributions to the field of bioanalytical chemistry, particularly in the development of novel analytical methods enabling understanding of the biological consequences of DNA damage.” Our congratulations to Yinsheng for this nice recognition and well deserved honor. For more information, please see the article in the UCR Newsroom.

Eastmond Elected as a Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini

2011-11-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

Below are excerpts from the announcement from the UCR Newsroom.

Professor David Eastmond at the University of California, Riverside has been elected a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, an organization of international scholars who work towards solutions of occupational and environmental health problems around the world.

Founded as an independent, international academy in 1982 and headquartered in Carpi, Italy, the Collegium Ramazzini is comprised of a select group of no more than 180 fellows from about 40 different countries, each fellow being distinguished by his or her contributions to occupation and environmental health. .....

Eastmond is the second faculty member at UC Riverside to be honored by the Collegium Ramazzini. In 2004, Carl Cranor, a professor of philosophy (and member of the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program faculty), was named a fellow of the prestigious academy.

For more information, please see the UCR Newsroom release or in the College Notebook column in the Press Enterprise.

ETOX Mini-GSA at Ropes Course

2011-10-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

The ETOX mini-graduate student association recently met to do the ropes course on campus. I understand that those who participated had a great time. Below are photos from the event. [Our thanks to Neeti for sending the photos.]

Neuroscience research featured in UCR Magazine

2011-10-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

The Fall 2011 edition had a number of articles featuring the neuroscience research and teaching on campus. ETOX faculty member Maggie Curras-Collazo was featured prominently in two of the articles, particularly in the article entitled, "Neuroscience for Kids" which describes a class that Dr. Curras-Collazo has developed to help UCR undergraduates reach out to the community. If you would like orme information or to read the articles, they can be found here.

UCR ETOX alumni at the EMS meeting

2011-10-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Environmental Mutagen Society held its annual meeting in Montreal this month and the UCR ETOX program was well represented. Below are pictures of current and former students and postdocs who were in attendance. Maik Schuler, a former postdoc, was also there but I wasn't able to get his picture.

David Eastmond with Jennifer Sasaki.

Krista Dobo

Former postdoc Shambhu Roy (on left) with current graduate student Kristi Capsel

Catherine Gibbons

Former postdoctoral fellow Rupa Doppalapudi

Positions available at ChemRisk

2011-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email from Pam Chapman at ChemRisk indicating that they are interested in hiring current or upcoming graduates from our program. Below is information from her email.

ChemRisk is a scientific consulting firm that specializes in using risk assessment methods to characterize and provide improved understanding of complex exposures involving chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or radionuclides in a variety of potentially contaminated media. We currently have more than 60 scientists experienced in addressing health and safety concerns, with backgrounds including toxicology, industrial hygiene, epidemiology, ecotoxicology, environmental sciences, medicine, statistical analysis, and risk assessment. We are hiring in all of our offices: San Francisco, CA, Boulder, CO, Chicago, IL, Orange County, CA and Pittsburgh, PA.

For more information on ChemRisk’s practice areas and team, please visit www.chemrisk.com.

Pamela S. Chapman, M.P.H.
Managing Epidemiologist
ChemRisk, LLC
Pioneers in Science. Leaders in Solutions.
101 2nd Street, Suite 700
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 618-3204 Direct
(415) 896-2444 Fax
www.chemrisk.com

Photos from the ETOX fall social

2011-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Our thanks to Director Yinsheng Wang and his wife for hosting the fall opening social at his house on Friday, Oct. 7. It was an nice event with good food and excellent company. Below are a number of photos from the event.

Our hosts, Yinsheng Wang and his wife.

Cranor featured in Inside Higher Ed

2011-08-25T10:37:00.001-07:00

Dr. Carl Cranor, a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program, is currently featured in the Academic Minute section of Inside Higher Ed talking about the effects of chemical exposure during development. This is a major focus of his recent book, "Legally Poisoned: How the Law Puts Us at Risk from Toxicants". The segment can be listened to by clicking here. Our congratulations to Carl for this recognition of his work.

Position in EPA Region 9 Office

2011-06-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

I recently received this position announcement from a colleague at the EPA.

US EPA Region 9 is accepting applications for an open position in the Waste Division Permitting Office. This office leads hazardous waste permitting and corrective action cleanups to ensure adequate protection of human health and the environment. The successful applicant will serve as a project manager who will have the responsibility to develop permits for industrial facilities; work directly with the public to involve communities in the permitting and cleanup process; work with state governments on their permitting activities; and oversee corrective action cleanups on contaminated lands.

Opening Date: 12:01 am EST, July 5th, 2011
Closing Date: July 11, 2011
Position Title: Environmental Engineer/Scientist, GS-0819/1301-09/11
Salary: $56,172.00 to $88,349.00
Duty Location: 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
Work Schedule: 40 hours per week
Who May Apply: All U.S. Citizens may apply
Qualifications: GS-09 –You need to have at least one year of full time experience defined as experience working in at least one environmental program (e.g. water, air, waste, toxic etc,) in an environmental field (e.g. inspection, enforcement, permits, etc) and experience participating in work groups, committees, or teams related to environmental science issues or projects; - OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree; or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in the engineering or science field.

GS-11 – You need to have at least one year of full time experience defined as experience in overseeing workplan development and overall project management; and experience preparing summaries of complex technical regulatory, or scientific material related to an environmental
program or addressing environmental justices issues or projects; OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in the academic discipline.

How to Apply: www.usajobs.gov . In the “WHAT” box in the center of the page, on the opening date, type announcement number:
LV-R9-DE-2011-0023

This announcement remains open 11:59 PM EST on the closing date.

Application Requirements: Create your profile in usajobs.gov and upload your resume and transcripts if necessary, into your profile

2011 Annual Student Symposium

2011-06-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

The annual student symposium was held yesterday at the Botanical Gardens. Twenty-three students presented updates on their dissertation or thesis research. The presentations were all of high quality and it was great to see range of research being conducted by students of the program. Katie Zimmermann won the Futuko award for the outstanding presentation. Zhenshan Chen and Ashley Swanson were recognized as honorable mentions and Shuo Liu was recognized with the Best First Year Presentation award. Zhenshan Chen also received the Student's Choice Award. Dr. Eastmond received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award for 2010-11. Our thanks to all of the speakers and a special congratulation to the award winners. We would also like to thank the Student Symposium Committee (Dr. Paul Ziemann, Chair, Katie Zimmermann, Richard Belcher, Laurel Dodgen, and Ashley Swanson) for doing an excellent job in organizing the event. We would like to give a special thanks for Dr. Janet Arey for contacting the alumni for updates on their activities. Below are pictures from the event.

Lei Guo's presentation

A group photo during the symposium. There was a very good turn-out of students, faculty and lab members.

The first of a series of photos taken during dinner - Thai food from Best Thai.

From the left: Dr. Yinsheng Wang, the Program Director with the award winners, Shuo Liu, Katie Zimmermann, Ashley Swanson, and Zhenshen Chen.

Gayatri Sankaran, the ETOX mini-GSA representative presenting Zhenshan Chen with the Student's choice award.

Gayatri Sankaran presenting Dr. David Eastmond with the faculty mentor award.

Jason Cheng receives Mentoring Award

2011-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

ETOX and Chemistry faculty member Jason Cheng recently received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement. Our congratulations to Jason for this nice recognition of his work mentoring undergraduate researchers.

Commencement 2011

2011-06-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

On Sunday June 12, UCR held its commencement ceremony for the College of Natural and Agricultural Resources. The ETOX program had 4 graduates - Lynnie Cua who received her Ph.D. degree (shown below with Prof. Marilyn Yates), and Doan-Si Bui, Minh Vuong and Terry Lopez who received M.S. degrees (or who will complete them this summer). Our congratulations to these individuals for attaining their educational and research goals. We wish them success in their future endeavors.

Photo of Genevieve Obermeyer and children

2011-06-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Attached is a cute photo of ETOX alumna Genevieve Obermeyer (M.S. 2008) with her son Leo and his new brother Jason Shiying Wen. We are very happy for Genevieve and wish her and her family the best!

Cytogeneticist postion at Bioreliance

2011-06-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

I recently received the following message from Marilyn Aardema, a friend and colleague. Please contact her if interested.

BioReliance will soon be posting an opening for a cytogenetics study director that will also be involved in research on new methods, etc. I’d like a PhD level, trained cytogeneticist. I’m reaching out to folks like yourself that are involved in training new folks, as well as how are tapped into the cytogenetics community! If you know of anyone, or can recommend other people I should contact, please let me know!

Marilyn J. Aardema, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Toxicology
BioReliance Corporation
9630 Medical Center Drive
Rockville, MD 20850
marilyn.aardema@bioreliance.com

Toxicology and Health Scientist Positions at EPA

2011-05-26T12:37:00.001-07:00

The following information about toxicologist and health scientists positions at the EPA was sent to me by ETOX alumna Catherine Gibbons. I recently received some more details from Vincent Cogliano, acting head of the IRIS program, which are posted at the beginning of the post.

Currently, we can fill the following positions, all in Arlington VA near Washington DC:

1. Cancer biologist/Toxicologist, GS-14, $105-136k (closes 3 June)
2. Health scientist/Epidemiologist, GS-11/12/13, $62-115k (closes 17
June)
3. Statistician, GS-12/13, $74-115k (closes 7 June)
4. Biologist/Toxicologist, GS-11/12/13, $62-115k (closes 17 June)

Interested candidates must apply thru the website
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/. Type "IRIS" into the keyword field and
these four announcements should appear.

Here are additional details for two of the positions:

Delegated Examining
RTP-ORD-DE-2011-0149

Title: Biologist/Toxicologist
Series and Grade Announced: GS-0401/0415-11/12/13
Full Performance Level: GS-13
SF-52 #: NCEA-11-033 and NCEA-11-034
Location of Position: Arlington, VA
Area of Consideration: Open to all U.S. Citizens
Position Type: Full-time; Permanent
Opening Date: May 20, 2011
Closing Date: June 17, 2011

Other Information
Number of Vacancies: Two
Position Risk Designation: This position has been designated as
Low Risk; new hires will be required to complete a NACI (National Agency Check and
Inquiries) at a cost of $125 to the program.

This announcement will be available for application Friday, May 20 at
www.usajobs.com.

Delegated Examining
RTP-ORD-DE-2011-0141

Title: Health Scientist
Series and Grade Announced: GS-0601-11/12/13
Full Performance Level: GS-13
SF-52 #: NCEA-11-035 and NCEA-11-036
Location of Position: Arlington, VA
Area of Consideration: Open to all U.S. Citizens
Position Type: Full-time; Permanent
Opening Date: May 20, 2011
Closing Date: June 17, 2011

Other Information
Number of Vacancies: Two
Position Risk Designation: This position has been designated as
Low Risk; new hires will be required to complete a NACI (National Agency Check and
Inquiries) at a cost of $125 to the program.

This announcement will be available for application Friday, May 20 at
www.usajobs.com.

Postdoctoral position in Genetic Toxicology at Roche

2011-05-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

ETOX alumna Krista Dobo forwarded the following information on a postdoctoral position in Genetic Toxicology at Roche in Switzerland.

Post-doctoral Scientist Genetic Toxicology
Location
Switzerland - Basle-Town
Basle
Company/ Division
Pharmaceuticals
Job level
Entry level
Who to contact
Contact HR: W. Kinzy, phone:
+41 61 687 94 03
Service

The Position
As post doctoral fellow you will be a member of the Genetic Toxicology group. Expertise in
the Genetic Toxicology area within the company is centrally located in Basel within the
Non-Clinical Safety Department. You will work in close collaboration with the team members
to generate basic data on mutagenic/clastogenic effects (primarily in vivo) for the definition
of new models for risk assessment of mutation and tumor induction.
you will investigate dose response relations using established Genetic Toxicology test
system such as the micronucleus and Comet and the - to be adapted Pig-a - assays
you will characterise dose response curves employing appropriate mathematical models in
collaboration with our statisticians
you will present /publish these data in international meetings/journals
this project will be performed in close collaboration with an academic mentor (University of
Swansea)
This position is available on a temporary basis for two years.

You’re someone who wants to influence your own development. You’re looking for a
company where you have the opportunity to pursue your interests across functions and
geographies, and where a job title is not considered the final definition of who you are, but
the starting point.

For this position you will bring the following qualifications:
recent PhD in life sciences
experience in Genetic Toxicology and/or related fields
experience with flow cytometry techniques of advantage
willingness to integrate into small team/ ability to build personal relations
motivated to be successful working on high impact project using new inhouse technologies
proven ability to present and publish research data
proficient in English, other languages (e.g. German, French) of benefit.
Please apply online until June, 10th.

Who we are
At Roche, 80,000 people across 150 countries are pushing back the frontiers of healthcare.
Working together, we’ve become one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare
groups. Our success is built on innovation, curiosity and diversity, and on seeing each
other’s differences as an advantage. To innovate healthcare, Roche has ambitious plans to
keep learning and growing – and is seeking people who have the same goals for themselves.
The headquarters in Basel is one of Roche’s largest sites, over 8,000 people from
approximately 80 countries work at Roche Basel. Favored by its geographic location in the
heart of Europe, the Basel area is one of the most dynamic economic regions in Switzerland
– a great place to live and work.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer

The Roche employment website can be accessed here.

Job ID: 38102551818820110505

Best regards
Elmar
Elmar Gocke
Preclinical Safety,
Genotoxicology
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd
CH 4070 BASEL
phone +41-61-6884797
fax +41-61-6888418
elmar.gocke@roche.com

EPA positions in San Francisco and Los Angeles

2011-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Matt Salazar of the EPA sent me information on a number of positions for which the agency will be advertising (see below). The positions are for environmental scientists in the Superfund division and he indicates that someone with an engineering or science bachelor's degree and a year of relevant experience can qualify for the GS9 position. Those with more education and/or experience can generally qualify for the higher level positions. There is a delegated exam for those who are not current or former EPA employees. More information can be found at the EPA career website. You can also contact him for more information. His email address is Salazar.Matt@epamail.epa.gov. The delegated exams open on May 20th. The closing date is May 26th.

GS-9/11: San Francisco (permanent)
GS-12/13 - San Francisco or Los Angeles (permanent)
GS-12/13 - Los Angeles (term 2-4 years)

Zhenshan Chen's new baby

2011-05-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

Our congratulations to ETOX student Zhenshan Chen and his wife Duoduo Bao who recently gave birth to a handsome baby boy. Below is a picture of their new son Darren.

EXOX Graduate Student Association Goes Bowling

2011-04-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

Kristi Capsel and Gayatri Sankaran of the Environmental Toxicology mini graduate student association organized a bowling activity at the local bowling alley in Moreno Valley on Saturday April 16. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Below are pictures of the event provided by Gayatri.

Gayatri and Kristi, the organizers.

EPA positions in the Risk Assessment Forum staff

2011-04-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

I received this in an email this morning.

The Office of Administrative and Research Support (OARS) announces the
following job opportunities in the Office of Science Advisor, in the Risk
Assessment Forum Staff within the OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
(ORD):

To view the specifics of this announcement, please click
here. The open period for this position ends May 6.

For the second announcement for a similar position, click here.
The open period for this position ends on April 29.

Positions at the EPA in the Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water

2011-04-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

Our thanks to ETOX alumna Heidi Bethel who forwarded the information below on a number of open positions at the EPA in their Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water in the Washington, DC area.

Attached below are vacancy announcements for multiple openings in the
Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water - Standards and Risk
Management Division.
These vacancies are open to the public (i.e., any U.S. citizen may
apply).

************

The vacancy announcement for the following position is posted to open on
USA Jobs, OPM's on-line application system. To be considered for this
position, applicants must apply on-line at the USAJobs.gov website by
the closing date of the announcement and follow the vacancy announcement
instructions for providing any applicable supplemental information.

ANNOUNCEMENT #: LV-OW-DE-2011-0019 (Delegated Examining - Open to Any
Qualified U.S. Citizen)

POSITION: Interdisciplinary (Environmental Engineer/Environmental
Scientist), GS-0819/1301-07/09

OFFICE: Office of Water/Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water/Standards and Risk Management Division

LOCATION: Washington, DC
OPENING DATE: 04/15/2011

CLOSING DATE: 04/21/2011

Link

******************

The vacancy announcement for the following position is posted to open on
USA Jobs, OPM's on-line application system. To be considered for this
position, applicants must apply on-line at the USAJobs.gov website by
the closing date of the announcement and follow the vacancy announcement
instructions for providing any applicable supplemental information.

ANNOUNCEMENT #: LV-OW-DE-2011-0017 (Delegated Examining - Open to Any
Qualified U.S. Citizen)

POSITION: Interdisciplinary (Environmental Engineer/Environmental
Scientist), GS-0819/1301-11/12

OFFICE: Office of Water/Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water/Standards and Risk Management Division

LOCATION: Washington, DC
OPENING DATE: 04/15/2011

CLOSING DATE: 04/21/2011

Link

The Hunters have a baby boy

2011-04-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Our congratulations to ETOX alumnus Wesley Hunter (Ph.D., 2009) and his wife Katie on the birth of their son, Joseph. Attached is a picture of the new baby. We are very happy for them.

Spring Flowers in Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park Near UC Riverside

2011-04-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went mountain biking in Sycamore Canyon Park, a wilderness park located about one mile from campus (and my home). This has been a particularly rainy year in Riverside and the wildflowers are currently in full bloom and quite beautiful. Below are a few pictures from the park.

I found the expanses of yellow flowers to be particularly beautiful.

A pool formed by the small creek that runs through the middle of the park.

If you have really good eyes (or a good imagination), a hiker or mountain biker can be seen at the top of the trail in the upper left.

ETOX alumni photos from the SOT meeting in Washington DC

2011-03-23T06:54:00.001-07:00

The 50th anniversary meeting of the Society of Toxicology took place earlier this month in Washington DC. I was able to attend and enjoyed seeing a number of ETOX students and alumni. Below are some of their pictures including photos from a dinner that ~8 of us attended on Tuesday night. Present at the meeting but who I didn't see or didn't get a photograph of were Lindley Maryoung (current student), Dan Schlenk (professor), Maik Schuler (former postdoc), Shambhu Roy (former postdoc), Xiaofei Zhang (alumnus), and possibly Ryan Williams (alumnus) and Hongwei Chen (alumnus) who I believe I saw from a distance.

Drew Olaharski (alumnus, Roche) and Sharada Balakrishnan (alumna, consultant)

Jim Keenan (alumnus, Environ)

Zhenshan Chen and Gayatri Sankaran (current students, Krieger lab)

Chris Banks (alumnus, postdoc at UC Davis)

Chris Banks and Zhenshan Chen

Heidi Bethel (alumna, EPA)

Gayatri Sankaran and Catherine Gibbons (alumna, EPA) holding Heidi Bethel's toddler

Xiaoqin Ye (alumna, faculty member, University of Georgia)

Sculpture in the convention center that I liked.

ETOX Dinner at SOT meeting in Washington DC

2011-03-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in getting together at the SOT meeting in Washington, DC, we will probably go out for dinner on Tuesday (March 8) or possibly Wednesday night. If interested in joining the group, please send an email (david.eastmond@ucr.edu) with your contact info. I look forward to seeing you there.

Toxicologist positions at EPA

2011-02-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

ETOX alumna Heidi Bethel (Ph.D., 2002) just sent information about the availability of 2 toxicologist positions in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Risk Assessment Division at the EPA offices in the Washington, DC area. For more information, click here. Please note that the open period for applications extends until Feb. 28.

Carl Cranor publishes new book

2011-01-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

Carl Cranor, a member of the Department of Philosophy and an ETOX faculty member has recently authored a new book entitled, “Legally Poisoned: How the Law Puts Us at Risk from Toxicants”. The book has been published by Harvard University Press and is the subject of news release from the UCR Newsroom which can be found here. Our congratulations to Carl for this noteworthy achievement.

Krieger Elected as AAAS Fellow

2011-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Our congratulations to UC Riverside extension toxicologist Bob Krieger who was recently elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Bob's selection was “For distinguished contributions to the field of pesticide science in teaching, research, and particularly in the communication of principles of toxicology.” This is a nice recognition of Bob's work and stature within the field of toxicology. More information about the AAAS fellows elected form UCR this year can be found at the UCR Newsroom link.

Two Open Risk Assessment Positions at the EPA

2010-12-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

The National Center for Environmental Assessment has two permanent full-time Risk Assessment positions open in their Washington DC/Virginia offices. The key information about the positions can be found at this link. The application period ends on Jan. 13, 2011.

Birth of Dexter Edwin Verslues

2010-12-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

On on Dec. 8, 2010, ETOX alumnae Wendy Hwang-Verslues and her husband Paul Verslues became the proud parents of a baby boy. Our congratulations to Wendy and Paul for this new addition to their family. Below are pictures of Dexter Edwin Verslues and his parents.

Program Receives NIEHS Training Grant

2010-11-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program at UCR was recently selected for an NIEHS T32 training grant to support the education and training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Posted below is the description published in InsideUCR. Our thanks to ETOX Director Yinsheng Wang who was the force behind the application and will be overseeing the award.

Program Gets $1 Million Grant
The Environmental Toxicology Program has received a prestigious “institutional training grant” of nearly $1.1 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Yinsheng Wang, a professor of chemistry, is the principal investigator of the five-year grant; David Eastmond, the chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, is the grant’s co-principal investigator.

The grant will enable the training of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working in the area of environmental toxicology.

“The training grant will provide additional support to the environmental toxicology and related graduate programs,” Wang said. “This will also enhance the visibility and reputation of our graduate program.”

Photos from ETOX Social

2010-11-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

On October 15, Yinsheng Wang and his wife hosted an ETOX social at their home. There was a great turnout and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time. Below are a selection of photos from the event.

UCR Hosts Symposium on Tobacco-related Disease Research

2010-11-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Oct. 29, UCR hosted a mini-symposium to highlight recent tobacco-related disease research. The symposium was organized by Drs. Yinsheng Wang, Prue Talbot of UCR and Kamlesh Asotra of the Tobacco-related Disease Research Program. I was not able to attend but but I understand that it was very successful. Below are pictures of a number of ETOX faculty and students in attendance.

Dr. Yinsheng Wang, director of the ETOX program, introducing one of the speakers.

Dr. Nicole zur Nieden presenting her research on the effects of tobacco smoke on stem cells.

Monique Williams, a first year graduate student working in Dr. Prue Talbot's lab.

A photo of the symposium participants.

ETOX Well Represented at SCCSOT Meeting

2010-10-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday October 8 the Southern California Chapter of the Society of Toxicology held its annual meeting on the UCLA campus. The UCR Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program was well represented with seven current students, one faculty member and one alumna in attendance. The theme of the meeting was "Advancing the Science of Carcinogenicity Risk Assessement" and Dr. David Eastmond gave one of the presentations. His talk was entitled, "Perspectives on Contemporary Issues Involving Genotoxicity Testing and Regulatory Decision-making". A special congratulation goes to Ashley Swanson whose poster was selected for the first place award in the student poster competition. Shown in the photo from the left are Pavan Gollapudi (in back), Minh Vuong, Kristi Capsel, Si Bui, and Ashley Swanson. In attendance but not photographed were Anna Martin, Neeti Riar, Dr. Sharada Balakrishnan (alumna) and Dr. David Eastmond (faculty).

ETOX Program Ranks High in the Recent NRC Graduate Program Evaluation

2010-10-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

UCR's Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program did quite well in the ranking of U.S. graduate programs that was recently published by the National Research Council. In the evaluation, twenty parameters were considered based largely on the 2005-06 academic year and the preceding 5 year period. The results are presented as ranges and the following summaries are based on the S-ranking data compiled by the UCR Graduate Division. Among the programs in the area of pharmacology, toxicology and environmental health, the ETOX Program ranked 29th of 115 which falls in upper 25%. Among the 27 programs with an emphasis in toxicology (based on the program name), our program ranked 5th. This is a nice recognition of the efforts of the students, faculty and administration who have contributed to the program over the years. Direct comparisons of specific programs can be made by using the Chronicle of Higher Education's interactive tool that can be found here.

Senior Ecotoxicologist Position at FMC

2010-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Below is an email that was recently received by one of our students.

I am seeking a solid ecotoxicologist, preferably with avian or terrestrial expertise, to help develop and defend agricultural products. The position is located at FMC Corporation’s R&D Center situated in Ewing, NJ. This individual will design, manage, and participate in scientific work under FIFRA and GLPS and have an opportunity to publish and present with CRO’s at major conferences. One’s efforts will be fairly evenly invested between two key areas:

• Overseeing new studies conducted by contract labs across all aspects of ecotoxicology to ensure high quality science, and
• Providing information for regulatory agencies, customers and FMC personnel, including white papers, product defenses, reports and more.

FMC is one of the worlds’ foremost, diversified chemical companies with leading positions in agricultural, industrial and consumer markets. Not only are we on a strong growth trajectory with double-digit growth, but our philosophy is one of constant evolution.

I invite you to read an insightful description of the opportunity. It includes information like:

What makes this a great opportunity for the right person?
The nuts and bolts of the of the job
Keys to success
More information about FMC Corporation

Please let me know if someone whom you believe may have the required experience would like to be considered for this career opportunity. For your convenience, I pasted the link to the job description at the bottom of this message. There is a link to apply if someone is interested. I encourage them to reach out to me should they have any questions.

Kind regards,

Kate Davis
Sourcing Partner
FMC Corporation
562-472-0707
kdavis@dtoolbox.com

Link to the job description.

Postdoctoral position in pharmacokinetics at LLNL

2010-09-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Dr. Ken Turteltaub recently contacted me to let me know about the postdoctoral position summarized below.

The Postdoctoral Pharmacology Researcher will study how pharmacokinetics and ADME properties are affected by the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles using techniques including accelerator mass spectrometry. As a Postdoc under the Battelle Center for Fundamental and Applied Systems Toxicology (B-FAST) you will be involved in collaborative research with scientists from Battelle and several of the National Laboratories we manage/co-manage, and potentially with other members of the public and private sectors. We envision our collaboration to result in the development of the science and tools that will transform the way safety science and toxicology testing are practiced today.

THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POSITION:
• Recent PhD in a relevant scientific field i.e., pharmacology, toxicology, biochemistry, chemistry • Demonstrated hands-on experience with various animal models with demonstrated ability to innovate research models
• Prior experience conducting protocol driven research in biologic matrices • Experience working effectively in an interactive, matrixed environment, working with toxicologists, physiologists and chemists toward a common endpoint
• Proven ability to assimilate information quickly and apply knowledge to a broad array of novel situations

To apply for this position, please visit our corporate website www.battelle.org/careers, create a personal profile, upload a CV and apply to requisition number 18273.

For more information, please contact:

Kenneth W. Turteltaub, Ph.D
Chief Biomedical Scientist
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate; L-452
Program Leader - Biomedical Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue
Livermore, CA 94550
turteltaub2@llnl.gov
Ph: 925.423.8152
Fax: 925.422.2282

Ecotoxicologist positions at BASF

2010-09-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

ETOX alumna Dr. Melinda Bigelow Dyk contacted me to let me know of two exotoxicologist positions that are available at BASF at their Research Triangle Park, NC facility. Brief summaries of the two positions are below.

Senior Ecotoxicologist
BASF Agricultural Solutions is seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Senior Ecotoxicologist. The candidate will provide ecotoxicology expertise for the maintenance and development of agricultural chemical products. Duties will include the determination of ecotoxicology data requirements, the monitoring of contracted studies and the evaluation of product safety based on study results. The emphasis is on support for North American registrations, however, the individual will also have worldwide support responsibilities for specific products.

Education/Qualifications:
Minimum Required: MS Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology, Toxicology or related field with a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments -OR- PhD Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology, Toxicology or related field with a minimum of 6 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments.
Desired: Ph.D. Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology, Toxicology or related field with a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments for agricultural products.

Ecotoxicologist
BASF Agricultural Solutions is seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Ecotoxicologist. The candidate will provide ecotoxicology expertise for the maintenance and development of agricultural chemical products. Duties will include the determination of ecotoxicology data requirements, the monitoring of contracted studies and the evaluation of product safety based on study results. The emphasis is on support for North American registrations, however, the individual will also have worldwide support responsibilities for specific products.

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE:
Minimum Required: MS Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology or related field with a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments -OR- BS Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology or related field with a minimum of 6 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments.
Desired: Ph.D Degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Toxicology or related field with 0-4 years of relevant experience with ecotoxicology testing and ecological risk assessments for agricultural products.

For more information, please contact Melinda at melindauncw@hotmail.com.

ETOX members at Nationals game

2010-08-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

On July 27, members of the National Center for Environmental Assessment at the EPA went to watch the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves. Several program members were in attendance. Below are pictures from the event.

Si Bui who is interning at the EPA this summer.

ETOX alumna Catherine Gibbons who works in the IRIS program.

David Eastmond who was visiting the EPA in a photo shoot with George W., a local dignitary.

Mei-Shan Huang Wedding Photos

2010-07-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Mei-Shan Huang (M.S., 2005) recently married Chris Green (formerly of Riverside, CA) on July 5th in Taipei, Taiwan. Chris is an English professor at a private university in Busan, South Korea and Chris and Mei-Shan will be living there for the next few years. Below are a couple of photos from their wedding. More photos can be seen on-line. We are very happy for Mei-Shan and wish her the best in her new marriage.

Annual Student Symposium

2010-06-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday June 16, the Environmental Toxicology Program held its annual student symposium. There were 18 student presentations and it was great to see the breadth of research in which the students are involved. At the end of the day, a number of students and faculty were recognized. The Fukuto award for the top student presentation was given to J.P. Baquiran for his presentation entitled, "The La Brea Tar Pits Metagenome". Honorable mention awards were presented to Katy Zimmermann and Kristy Richardson. The best first year student presentation was awarded to Ashley Swanson. Kristy Richardson was chosen for the student choice award and the Faculty Mentor award for this year went to the Program Director, Yinsheng Wang. The day was a great success. I would like to give a special thanks to Paul Ziemann, Zhenshan Chen, Lynnie Cua, Juliane Finn, Lei Ren, Ashley Swanson and Dawn Huffmann Loyola who as members of the Student Symposium Committee organized the symposium. In addition, I would like to recognize the work of Janet Arey who contacted the alumni and compiled the alumni news that was in the program booklet. Below are a number of photos from the event.

The award winners, Yinsheng Wang, Katy Zimmermann, Ashley Swanson, Kristy Richardson and J.P. Baquiran.

Kristy Richardson receiving the Student Choice award from Kristi Capsel and Gayatri Sankaran.

Yinsheng Wang receiving the faculty mentor award.

Gayatri Sankaran giving her presentation.

The buffet line and various group shots below.

News from Alumna Heidi Bethel

2010-06-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Heidi Bethel (Ph.D. 2002) sent in the following update and photos for the annual student symposium. Sorry, I am slow getting them posted.

This has been a great year! We purchased our first home in Springfield, Virginia in July of 2009. And, we had a baby boy, Jason Singh Chillar, born in February, 2010. We spent most of the year trying to get our house ready for the baby and we still continue to work on renovation projects and decorating. We are really happy that we were able to move into a house for Jason and we look forward to seeing him run around our 1/3 acre lot. Kris is having a lot of fun working on the yard!

I am still working at EPA in the Office of Water on ambient water quality standards and I will be returning back to work in late summer.

Good luck to everyone on the seminar day presentations and congratulations to those graduating.

Photo from Alumnus Eric Kwok

2010-06-02T20:21:00.001-07:00

Ryan (age 5) and Amanda (age 7). "Little ones" of Eric Kwok (Ph.D., 1993)

Photo from Alumna Karen Riveles

2010-05-31T19:45:00.001-07:00

Karen Riveles (Ph.D. 2004) and her husband Trevor in a "Then and Now: Kids at Heart". They were married Feb. 6, 2010.

Photo from Alumnus Huiming Gong

2010-05-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

Ziyou Gong, son of alumnus Huiming Gong (M.S. 2003).

Photo from Alumna Patricia Phousongphoung Rowley

2010-05-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

Patricia Phousongphoung Rowley (Ph.D., 2002) with her husband Jon and her two sons Oden and Shai.

Photo from Alumna Genevieve Obermeyer

2010-05-31T19:35:00.000-07:00

Alumna Genevieve Obermeyer (M.S., 2008) with her son Leo Thomas Wen who just turned one.

Photo from Alumna Kelly Thrippleton-Hunter

2010-05-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

Kelly Thrippleton-Hunter (Ph.D., 2009) and her husband Kenny Hunter in Zion National Park.

News from alumna Wendy Hwang-Verslues

2010-05-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Janet Arey has been contacting the ETOX alumni for news for the annual student symposium booklet. For those who included a photo with their news, I will be posting them on the blog. Below is a photo of Wendy Hwang-Verslues (Ph.D. 2007) and her husband Paul Verslues that was taken at the 5th wedding anniversary.

Pesticide Handbook of Toxicology Edited by Bob Krieger

2010-04-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

The 3rd edition of Hayes' Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology has just been published. It was a major achievement with two volumes, 107 chapters and over 2000 pages. We extend our congratulations to Bob Krieger who was the chief editor and spearheaded the effort seeing it through to completion. Above is a picture of Bob holding volume 1 (taken by Iqbal Pittalwala of UCR).

Seminar by ETOX Alumna Fabienne Reisen

2010-04-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday March 31, one of our ETOX alumnae Fabienne Reisen (Ph.D. 2003) was on campus to speak in the ETOX seminar series. Fabienne is currently working as a scientist in the Air Toxics program studying wildfires at CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia. Her presentation was entitled "The Impact of Bushfire Smoke at the Personal, Local, Regional and Global Levels". It was great to see Fabienne again and hear about the interesting work that she is doing. Above is a photo taken immediately after her seminar.

Positions at EPA

2010-03-22T13:04:00.001-07:00

The IRIS program of the EPA in Arlington, VA (very close to Washington, DC) is looking to hire several full-time individuals with knowledge and experience in one or more of the following scientific areas: cancer mode of action, neurotoxic effects, reproductive effects, immunotoxicological effects, developmental effects, genetic toxicology, liver or kidney toxicity. They will be working with teams of scientists on a variety of risk assessment-related projects.

To Apply Please Visit:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/

Apply for Job #
Health Scientist: RTP-DE-2010-0160 or RTP-MP-2010-0354
Biologist/Toxicologist: RTP-DE-2010-0201 or RTP-MP-2010-
0349

Announcements designated DE are open to any U.S. citizen.

Good luck.

ETOX Gathering at SOT in Salt Lake City

2010-03-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

The annual Society of Toxicology meeting was held in Salt Lake City this year. There were a good number of former ETOX students, faculty and one current student attending. On Monday March 8, a group of us got together for dinner at Himalayan restaurant serving Nepalese and Indian food. Below is a photo from the dinner as well as a couple of others that I took. In addition to those listed below, Drew Olaharski, James Keenan, Chris Frantz, and Bob Krieger also attended the meeting.

Xiaofei Zhang, Catherine Gibbons, David Eastmond, Jennifer Sasaki, Si Bui, and Ryan Williams at the Himalayan restaurant.

Xiaoqin Ye, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia with one of her graduate students

Salt Lake City is my home town so I have to include a picture of Mt. Olympus, one of my favorite mountains in the area.

ETOX alumni, students and faculty to meet at SOT

2010-03-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in getting together at the SOT meeting in Salt Lake City, we are planning on going out to dinner on Monday night. If interested in joining the group, please send an email (david.eastmond@ucr.edu) with your contact info. I look forward to seeing you there.

Hayes Seminar on Atrazine

2010-02-23T06:17:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 10, Tyrone Hayes, a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley, gave a talk
in the ETOX seminar series on the dangers of the herbicide (weed-killer) atrazine, a common chemical contaminant of ground and surface water in the United States. Below are a couple of pictures of his presentation taken by Iqbal Pittawalla.

ETOX GSA goes bowling

2010-02-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

On Friday Feb. 5, the ETOX and Earth Sciences graduate student student associations organized a bowling night at the Brunswick Bowling Alley in Moreno Valley. It looks like they had a good time. Below are pictures of the event that Gayatri Sankaran, one of the ETOX GSA representatives, sent to me.

Kristi Capsel and Gayatri Sankaran, the ETOX GSA representatives.

Katy Zimmerman, Laurel Dodgen, Zhenshan, Lynnie, Jian Lin, and friend

Zhenshan Chen and Gayatri Sankaran

Si Bui

Si and friend, Zhenshan and Jiang

Lynnie Cua, Kristy Richardson and friends

Postdoctoral position at Dow Chemical Company

2010-02-11T09:59:00.001-08:00

Below is a message about a new postdoctoral position that I recently received from one of my colleagues at Dow Chemical. If interested, please follow the link to apply.

"I want to bring to your attention a post-doctoral opportunity we currently have in our laboratory in the area of respiratory sensitization and allergy." [See this link for more details.] "Some one with strong background in toxicology with expertise in molecular tools (e.g., transcriptomics) will be an ideal candidate for this position. Although background in immunotoxicology is preferred, it is not essential. I will appreciate if you pass this information to any interested candidates."

Recognition of 2005 Xiaoqin Ye article

2010-02-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

It just came to my attention that Xiaoqin Ye's 2005 Nature article on the critical role of lysophosphatidic acid in embryo implantation was highlighted in Nature Medicine (see articles on pages 1178 and 1195) as one of the top papers on reproduction research from 2004-2008. Xiaoqin Ye worked with Dr. Gill and received her Ph.D. in the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program in 1999. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of Georgia. Our congratulations to Xiaoqin Ye for this very nice recognition.

Genetic Toxicology Position at Toxikon

2010-02-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

Below is information on the position in genetic toxicology that may be of interest to some of you.

Toxikon Corporation
15 Wiggins Avenue, Bedford, MA 01730
Posted: 12/15/09
Toxikon Corporation, originally founded in 1977, is a Contract Research and testing company with laboratories in Bedford, MA and Belgium.Our mission continues to focus on providing quality services, competitively priced, with on-time delivery for the Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Biotech industries. Toxikon is seeking a Research Associate for our Genetic Toxicology department. This position will be responsible for performing a number of in vitro and in vivo assays in the area of genetic toxicology for regulatory submissions, as well as screening assays to support lead candidate compound selection efforts of the pharmaceutical industry.
The successful candidate will be a recent Ph.D. in Genetic Toxicology with a strong base in genetic and molecular toxicology as evidenced by publications in reputable journals. The candidate must have practical experience in bacterial mutation assays, in vitro and in vivo chromosomal aberration assays, forward mutation assay in mammalian cells, UDS and comet assay. Experience with flow cytometric analysis of micronucleated cells using FACS Canto II is highly desirable. This position requires excellent written and oral communication skills and a team player.
For additional information about Toxikon, please view our Web site.

Submit resumes to:
Human Resources
Toxikon Corporation
15 Wiggins Avenue
Bedford, MA01730
Fax: (781) 271-1137
E-mail: hr@toxikon.com

Toxikon employs 160 people and offers a generous benefit program including health, dental, fsa, std, ltd, life insurance and matching 401K plan. Toxikon is an EOE.

Shenfeng Qui's article selected as Best Publication

2010-01-31T09:46:00.000-08:00

Our congratulations to ETOX alumnus Shenfeng Qui (Ph.D. 04) whose article entitled, "Domoic acid induces a long-lasting enhancement of CA1 field responses and impairs tetanus-induced long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal slices" which was published last year in Toxicological Sciences, was recently selected for the Best Publication Award by the UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program. This research, sponsored by UC TSR&TP, was conducted while Shenfeng was a graduate student working in Dr. Maggie Curras-Collazo's lab. Our congratulations to Shenfeng (and Maggie) for this nice recognition.

ETOX Alumni Gathering in Washington, DC

2010-01-31T09:37:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, Jan. 28, a group of the Environmental Toxicology alumni met at Nooshi's in Washington, DC. It was nice to see everyone and find out more about their lives and careers. The picture above was taken at the restaurant. From the left is Wanyoike Kang'ethe, Henghong Li, Weslie Hunter, Katie Hunter, David Strauss (an UCR Philosophy alumnus), Elizabeth Eastmond, Catherine Gibbons, David Eastmond and Heidi Bethel.

Dan Schlenk selected as AAAS Fellow

2010-01-23T10:29:00.000-08:00

Dan Schlenk, a professor of aquatic toxicology and Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program faculty member, was recently selected as a AAAS fellow. Dan was one of eight UCR faculty members selected in 2009 and as described in the UCR press release, Dan was selected “For distinguished contributions to the field of biochemical mechanistic toxicology.” Our congratulations to Dan for this nice award and recognition of his research.

Photos from Riverside

2010-01-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

It has rained a lot lately and I thought I would post a few pictures of the Santa Ana River for which Riverside is named, as well as a few of the views after the rain. I hope you enjoy them.

The view from Riverside looking across the Santa Ana River. As you may recall, this river usually looks more like a stream.

The main part of the river.

The view looking towards Rubidoux.

A view of the San Gabriel mountains this morning after the rain finally stopped.

Postdoctoral fellowships with the EPA (and others)

2010-01-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

The EPA is looking to hire a postdoctoral fellow to work in their Risk Assessment group. Below is the information that I received in a recent email. Further information on that position as well as other positions can be found at this link.

We are advertising a training opportunity (fellowship not to exceed 3 years) that may be of interest to post-docs, research fellows, PhD and masters students. The position will be located in Arlington, VA in the US EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) office at Potomac
Yards. The candidate will learn about EPA's IRIS program as well assisting in preparing these documents. This opportunity is perfect for scientists interested in learning more about risk assessment and communicating science information to experts and non-experts. We are
looking for people with expertise in toxicology or related fields (e.g. molecular biology, pharmacology, neuroscience, cancer research), epidemiology, statistics, or risk assessment, and communication and who are interested in participating in this exciting opportunity. This
position is a non-laboratory position and will be filled on a first-come basis.

The announcement is listed below and the website with the application
information is: http://orise.orau.gov/sep/immediate-needs.htm, click on Graduate
Students, Postdoctoral Fellows, or Faculty.

News and photos from Alumna Fabienne Reisen

2009-11-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

Fabienne Reisen (Ph.D. 2003) is currently working at CSIRO in Melbourne Australia where she is applying her knowledge of atmospheric chemistry and air pollution to study the effects of wildfires. Above are two pictures of Fabienne collecting samples for a project on greenhouse gas emissions from savanna burning. As she described it in a recent email, "it has been an amazing experience. We camped out for about a week in Arnhem Land east of Kakadu NP, collecting smoke samples from prescribed burns. There were about 150 people involved in the project, about 50 scientists and 100 indigenous rangers. During the days we were busy collecting our samples, and in the evening I had a bit of time to go exploring and go swimming in the river. There are some amazing rock art galleries in the area. I've been back up there again the last few weeks, and I've just got back to Melbourne last night."

Fabienne has been offered a permanent position at CSIRO and has applied to become a permanent resident of Australia. Our congratulations to Fabienne! We think she will be our first Aussie alumna. She was already our first from Luxembourg.

Alumna Wendy Hwang-Verslues presents seminar at UCR

2009-11-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

On October 14, Dr. Wendy Hwang-Verslues, an ETOX alumna (Ph.D. 2007) who is now working at the Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan, returned to UCR to present a seminar in the Environmental Toxicology seminar series. Her seminar was entitled, "Existence of multiple lineages of breast cancer stem cells identified by profiling breast cancer cell lines and primary breast tumors". It was great to see her and hear about the new research in which she is involved. The picture above was taken during her visit.

Toxicologist position at the FDA

2009-11-23T17:10:00.000-08:00

I was sent the following information by Dr. Dan Levy about a position currently being advertised by the FDA. If interested, please contact Dan at the contact information below.

The FDA Division of Dietary Supplement Programs (DDSP) is looking for a toxicologist/pharmacologist/interdisciplinary scientist to review pre-market safety notifications for new dietary ingredients (NDIs). NDIs include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, botanicals, dietary substances, or constituents, metabolites, etc of any of these. Safety reviews require evaluation of evidence of safety which frequently includes sub-chronic rodent toxicology studies and history of use in food and also sometimes clinical studies and published literature with various degrees of relevance. This information is reviewed within 75 days by a multi-disciplinary team which can include chemists, botanists, microbiologist and medical officers. The ideal candidate will demonstrate proficiency in an area of toxicology or pharmacology relevant to dietary supplements, ability to review animal toxicology data, ability to write clearly and concisely, and to work in a fast-paced interdisciplinary team environment. DDSP also initiates collaborative studies with extramural laboratory scientists to resolve scientific questions relevant to the safety of dietary supplements. Applications are accepted online only at USAjobs.gov (HHS-FDA-06-2010-0014 for “status” Federal employees, HHS-FDA-06-2010-0013 for all other U.S. Citizens). Hiring at the GS-14 level is possible with a demonstration of experience commensurate with a “nationally recognized expert” in a sub-discipline related to the position. Applicants are cautioned that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management definition of “toxicologist” may be more restrictive other definitions and that applying as a pharmacologist or biologist may be more appropriate to your qualifications. For information about the positions or the DDSP you are encouraged to contact Dan D. Levy at dan.levy@FDA.hhs.gov.

2009 ETOX Fall Social

2009-10-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

On Friday October 2, Yinsheng Wang and his wife hosted potluck dinner and fall social at their home. There was a good turnout of students and faculty. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Below are some photos of the evening.

Gayatri Sankaran and Kristi Capsel, the ETOX graduate student representatives to the UCR Graduate Student Association this year.

Zhenshan Chen and his wife.

Group shot while eating.

Faculty members Paul Ziemann, Yinsheng Wang, Jay Gan, Dave Eastmond and our newest faculty member Nicole zur Nieden.

Zhenshen Chen, Su Bum Lee and new student Do Hyung Kim.

New graduate students, Laurel Dodgen and Ashley Swanson

Dr. Noriko Nishino, a recent alumna, Katy Zimmerman and Richard Belcher

New graduate students Xueyun Zheng and Qian Cai.

Prof. Jay Gan

Our hosts for the evening, Prof. Yinsheng Wang and his wife.

And in Florence, Italy

2009-08-24T00:05:00.001-07:00

The 10th International Conference on Environmental Mutagens immediately followed the IWGT meeting and took place in Florence, Italy. In additional to those in Basel, ETOX alumnae Jennifer Sasaki was also in attendance. Above is a picture of several of us at dinner. Jennifer is at the end of the table, Maik Schuler is to her left in the photo and I am next to Maik. Our colleagues and friends Roland and Maria are on the right.

ETOX Grads well represented in Basel, Switzerland

2009-08-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

The 5th International Working Group on Genotoxicity Testing took place in Basel, Switzerland Aug. 17-19. There were several ETOX grads (and a post doc) in attendance including Krista Dobo, Drew Olaharski, and Maik Schuler. Drew has been working in Basel for the past 5 months and will be returning to New Jersey next week. I wasn't able to see Bjarte Furnes but apparently he is currently working in Basel as well. It was enjoyable to see our former students. Above is a picture of Drew and Marilyn Aardema (a colleague at P&G) at a reception.

Noriko Nishino selected for Outstanding TA Award

2009-07-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Noriko Nishino, a current ETOX student working with Drs. Arey and Atkinson, was recently awarded the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Department of Environmental Sciences. Above is a picture of Noriko (holding certificate) and Lynnie Cua. Our congratulations to Noriko for this nice recognition.

2009 Annual Student Symposium Photos

2009-07-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

This year's annual student symposium took place on Tuesday June 23 at the Botanic Gardens. The weather was very pleasant and for the first time in many years, we did not need to use the air conditioning. There were 21 excellent student presentations as well as a hosted lunch and evening reception. Noriko Nishino won the T. Roy Fukuto award, Kelly Thrippleton Hunter and Jean-Paul Baquiran were honorable mentions, and Gayatri Sankaran received the award for best 1st year student presentation. The students gave the outstanding mentor award to Janet Arey and their choice for best presentation also went to Noriko Nishino. The seminar committee did a great job in planning and organizing the event. Our thanks go to Dawn Huffman and the members of the Student Symposium Committee (Dr. Paul Ziemann, Seminar Chair, Dr. Janet Arey, Richard Belcher, Zhenshan Chen, Lynnie Cua, Lei Ren, Kristy Richardson and Gayatri Sankaran) for organizing the Symposium and Reception. Special thanks to Zhenshan Chen who took most of the photos which are posted below.

Yinsheng Wang, the Program Director (on left) and the student award winners (from the right, Noriko Nishino, Gayatri Sankaran, J.P. Baquiran, Kelly Thrippleton Hunter).

Janet Arey with her outstanding mentor plaque and Zhenshan Chen

Kristy Richardson and Katy Zimmerman announcing the students' choice award.

Kristy Richardson presenting a gift card to Noriko Nishino.

First year students (Kristi Capsel, Si Bui, Gayatri Sankaran, Minh Vuong

Yehong "Heather" Wang with her child

Students in Bob Krieger's lab

Kelly Thrippleton Hunter and Lynnie Cua

JP Baquiran and Lei Ren

Zhenshan Chen and Gayatri Sankaran

An evening group shot.

Commencement Photos

2009-06-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Environmental Toxicology Program was very well represented at UCR's Commencement ceremonies that took place on June 7. Eight students (Melinda Bigelow Dyk, Noriko Nishino, Kelly Thrippleton Hunter, Yanhong Li, Wesley Hunter, Homero Camacho, Yehong "Heather" Wang, and Mae Nillos) who have finished their dissertation this past year (or plan to finish shortly) were hooded by their faculty advisors. Below are a number of photos of most of the graduating students in their robes.

Belated congratulations to Wesley Hunter and Mae Nillos

2009-06-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

I am a little slow posting this but didn't find out about it until this past week. Wesley Hunter's poster entitled, "Sampling pyrethroid bioavailability with disposable PDMS fibers." was selected as the Best Student Poster Presentation at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 5th World Congress in Sydney, Australia, last fall. Mae Nillos's poster was given an honorable mention. Our congratulations to both Wesley and Mae for this nice recognition. Above is a picture of Wesley and his wife Katie who was able to travel to Australia with him.

News and a photo from alumna Mary Ann Rempel-Hester

2009-06-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Things are going pretty well here. I got married two weeks after finishing my degree, and moved back up to the Pacific Northwest where I grew up. We recently bought a cute old house overlooking Puget Sound in Bremerton, Washington, across the water from Seattle. There's a bald eagle that hangs out near our house. It's pretty neat to look out the front window and see him flying by. In December 2007 I started working for Nautilus Environmental, a consulting company that specializes in aquatic toxicology. I'm currently in charge of the Washington state operations; we have a laboratory in Tacoma, Washington. My husband works for a competing firm, which makes for interesting dinner time conversation :). Brian and I are also trying our hands, in our spare time, at breeding polychaetes, Neanthes arenaceodentata, which are commonly used in evaluating marine sediment toxicity.Yes, we are science nerds. The picture is of Brian and I at the Grand Tetons on a family trip last summer.

Have fun at the symposium, and congrats to everyone that's graduating this year!!

Mary Ann Rempel-Hester

News and a photo from Genevieve Obermeyer

2009-06-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Genevieve Obermeyer (M.S. 2008) is the proud mother of a son (Leo Thomas Wen) who was born May 28. Above is a photo of Genevieve and her little boy. She says that so far she is loving motherhood. We are very happy for Genevieve and wish her the best in this new phase of her life.

News and two photos from alumna Tracey Varvel

2009-05-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

ETOX alumna Tracy Varvel (M.S., 2003) sent the following message and photos of her son.

I am still working for Ana-lab as the Assistant Manager of Quality Assurance. I began telecommuting in March due to my husband's promotion and our subsequent move to El Paso, TX. I must say, working out of your home takes some getting used to, but has some definite benefits.

On a personal note, our son is growing like a weed and talking up a storm. I have attached a a couple of recent photos of him. He will turn 2 this July.

I wish all of the presenters the best of luck.

News and a photo from alumnus Alvaro Alvarado

2009-05-31T06:39:00.000-07:00

Janet Arey has been contacting ETOX alumni for messages to place in the program booklet of the annual student symposium. When the alumni send photos, I plan to post them on the blog. Below is a message and photo (above) received from Alvaro Alvarado (Ph.D., 1998).

I hope you are well. We are doing fine. During the past year we went backpacking in Yosemite. I've attached a picture from the trip. My seven year old daughter did great. She even carried her own backpack. After three nights in the backcountry, we get back to the car dead tired, and she says that she wants to do that again.

I continue to enjoy my work at the California Air Resources Board. I have a lot of projects, mostly having to do with environmental justice and health impacts associated with PM2.5. On one project, I am part of team, which includes modelers from NASA, that is assessing the health and climate change co-benefits of reducing black carbon worldwide. On another project, I am working on environmental justice issues as we implement California s climate change law (AB23). The law directs the ARB to consider the impacts of regulations on vulnerable communities already overburdened by environmental pollutants. I manage a contract that is developing an environmental justice screening method that will be used to implement AB32. The project s overall objective is to recommend a scientifically derived approach for integrating cumulative impact and risk from air pollution with measures of socioeconomic vulnerability. It s exciting work (to me anyway).

Sharon Walker awarded a Fulbright Fellowship

2009-03-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Sharon Walker, a ETOX faculty member and assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, was been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to spend the next academic year at Ben Gurion University in Israel studying and monitoring pathogens in aquifers used for drinking water. A news release on her award can be found here. Our congratulations to Sharon for this nice recognition.

UCR ETOX Alumni at SOT

2009-03-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

The annual SOT meeting was held this past week in Baltimore and it was nice to see a number of out alumni. Drew Olaharski, currently at Roche Pharmaceuticals, gave a nice platform presentation on the use of a high throughput in vitro screening assay to predict bone marrow toxicity. Jimmy Keenan was a author/co-author on two exposure and risk assessment posters and Xiaoqin Ye was on several posters with her students. Below are a few photos of our alumni that I remembered to take. I also saw Bob Krieger from a distance but didn't get a chance to take his picture.

Heidi Bethel and Catherine Gibbons, currently at the EPA in the Washington DC area.

James Keenan, currently at ChemRisk in the San Francisco bay area.

Sharada Balakrishnan, currently consulting in Southern California.

Xiaoqin Ye, currently an assistant professor at the University of Georgia

Chris Frantz, currently at MedImmune in the San Francisco bay area.

Chris Banks and Mike Adams on History Channel

2009-03-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

The research of ETOX student Chris Banks and ETOX faculty member Mike Adams on a parasitoid wasp venom was featured on the show "Evolve: Venom" which as recently shown on the History Channel. In the segment, Chris shows how the Emerald Jewel wasp injects its toxin into the nervous system of a cockroach turning it into a zombie that can serve as a food source for the wasp's developing young. A YouTube clip of the segment can be seen here. Chris and Mike's segment begins at about 4 minutes and 40 seconds into the segment (3 of 5) and continues into the next segment (4 of 5). Our congratulations to Chris and Mike for this nice recognition of their research.

Green Materials Class

2009-03-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

Along with colleagues at UC Davis and UC Irvine, a number of ETOX faculty members and students are involved in a UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program lead campus focus in Green Materials. This quarter Professor Julie Schoenung at UC Davis taught a class (ECM 281) entitled Green Engineering: Theory and Practice that was streamed by real-time video to UCI and UC Riverside. Attached are a few photos from the class as seen from UCR.

The main class at UC Davis as seen on the UCR plasma screen.

ETOX students Si Bui and Guoping Wang watching a powerpoint presentation streamed from UC Davis.ETOX students Si Bui and Guoping Wang.

Spring in Riverside

2009-03-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

Spring has come to Riverside. The hills are green and the wildflowers are in bloom. Attached are several photos that I took last Saturday while riding in Sycamore Canyon Park near campus. [They were taken with a cell phone camera so the resolution is not as great as I would have liked.]

UCR ETOX get together at SOT

2009-03-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

If you will be attending the Society of Toxicology annual meeting in Baltimore this year and would like to get together with fellow UCR students and alumni for dinner (or lunch), please send me an email (david.eastmond@ucr.edu). I will be in Baltimore from Sunday night to Wednesday evening. I look forward to seeing each of you.

Eastmond appointed to NTP board (and visit with Ling Wang)

2009-03-02T22:39:00.000-08:00

David Eastmond, an ETOX faculty member , was recently appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Toxicology Program (NTP). He will also be serving on the Technical Reports Review Subcommittee which provides an independent peer review of the NTP bioassay reports and other documents. He was appointed by Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and his appointment will continue until June 2012.

One of the benefits of serving on the NTP board is that I get to see Ling Wang, one of my former students and an ETOX alumni, who lives with her family near Research Triangle Park. Below is a picture of Ling and I taken in her house during my recent visit.

In the News

2009-02-04T05:54:00.000-08:00

A recent paper by ETOX faculty members Connie Nugent and Jeff Bachant describing a link between telomeres and checkpoint pathways was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A news release with more details can be found in the InsideUCR news. Our congratulations to Connie and Jeff.

Postdoctoral position at LLNL

2009-01-19T12:14:00.000-08:00

Dr. Ken Turteltaub contacted me about the availability of a postdoctoral position at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The position involves working as part of an integrated multi-disciplinary team of biochemists, toxicologists, chemists and physicists to study regulatory and metabolic processes in eukaryotic cells using the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). The candidate will be involved in developing and applying methods for the quantitate analysis of metabolites and metabolic pathways in cells, animal models, and humans using radio-labeled precursors along with AMS analysis. If interested, please contact Dr. Ken Turteltaub at turteltaub2@llnl.gov or Dr. Graham Bench at bench1@llnl.gov.

Gan, LaRive and Yan Named AAAS Fellows

2009-01-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Our congratulations to ETOX faculty members, Jay Gan, Cynthia Larive and Yushan Yan who were recently named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Jay was recognized "For distinguished contributions to the field of soil and environmental chemistry, particularly for understanding environmental fate and risks of pesticides and for efforts in resource protection."; Cynthia "For significant contributions in applying NMR diffusion measurements to characterize complex mixtures, polydisperse samples, and ligand-protein interactions."; and, Yushan "For distinguished contributions to the engineering of zeolite thin films and their applications to semiconductors, aerospace and space exploration." Our congratualtions to Jay, Cynthia and Yushan for this nice recognition. More details can be found at the UCR Newsroom.

Seasons Greetings from Riverside

2008-12-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! Last year I posted pictures of the Mission Inn. This year I decided to post a few from a neighborhood near my home in Riverside. All are from a neighborhood (near the intersection of Chicago and Alessandro) where the residents line the streets with luminarios (traditionally, candles inside of paper bags). I hope you enjoy them. In addition, I wish you all a successful and happy New Year.

In the News

2008-12-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Last week, ETOX faculty member David Eastmond was interviewed by Nathan Baca of KESQ television in Palm Springs for a story about the presence of carbon tetrachloride in two local schools. The news station was interested in the health effects of carbon tetrachloride and its likely source. A news article based on the interview can be found here and a video clip of the interview that was broadcast can be found here. [On my computer, the second link brings up an error message but a pop-up window opens behind it and the video seems to run fine anyway. There is a short 16 sec. advertisement before the segment begins. The video can also be accessed from the first link by clicking the link found in the upper left portion of the screen.]

In the News

2008-12-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

The research of ETOX faculty member Prue Talbot (and her CMDB graduate student Sabrina Lin) on the toxicity of smoke from harm reduction cigarettes to mouse embryonic stem cells has recently been spotlighted in the UCR newsroom. Prue recently presented this work to our students at a recent ETOX seminar as well. Access to the new release can be found here.

Position at Health Canada

2008-12-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

I recently received information about the following position.

Health Canada is seeking potential candidates for a staff Research Scientist position in situated in Ottawa, Canada. This is the position left vacant by the retirement of George Douglas earlier this year. It does not involve any management or administrative duties; it is strictly a research position. It is a permanent position with laboratory, support staff, and base budget. The successful candidate would conduct research on the applied aspects of mutagenesis (primarily in vivo) in relation to environmental pollutants. The announcement was sent as a pdf document and contains additional information. If interested, please contact me (david.eastmond@ucr.edu) and I will forward it on to you.

In the News

2008-12-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

Over the past month or two, the research of a number of ETOX faculty members have been featured or the faculty members have been quoted in the news. Here are those of which I am aware.

Sharon Walker's efforts to provide opportunities for minorities and community college students to conduct research is spotlighted in the UCR Magazine. One of the programs entitled "Building Bridges Across Riverside Through Water Quality Research" is a collaborative effort funded by the USDA that involves ETOX alumna Heather Smith who is a professor of life sciences at Riverside Community College. The article can be accessed here.

Carl Cranor was recently quoted fairly extensively in a recent article on the new report on risk assessment published by the National Academy of Sciences. His comments were published on-line on the Environmental Health News website which can be accessed here.

Dave Eastmond was briefly quoted in the November issue of Self Magazine responsing to questions about Kinoki foot patches that are purported to have benefits in helping to eliminate toxins from the body.

Wilfred Chen, Ashok Mulchandani and Marylynn Yates' research on a new method that will allow the detection of one infective virus within two hours was recently published in PNAS and was spotlighted in InsideUCR. The news clip can be accessed here.

Xuan Liu's recent research on the intracellular relocalization of p53 following treatment of cells with apigenin, a dietary flavonoid, was also recently published in PNAS and highlighted in the InsideUCR news. The news clip can be accessed here.

Nancy Beckage Receives Honorary Doctorate

2008-11-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

Nancy Beckage, an ETOX faculty member, recently received an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in recognition of her achievements in the disciplines of insect endocrinology and insect immunology with impacts on agriculture. Our congratulations to Nancy for this very nice recognition. Above is a picture of Nancy receiving the award.

ETOX Grad Students Bowling Night

2008-11-23T16:34:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday evening Nov. 19, the ETOX and Environmental Science graduate students went bowling. I didn't see a lot of bowling photos but they seemed to have a good time. Below are a few pictures from the evening.

Lynnie Cua

Si Bui, Gayatri Sankaran and Noriko Nishino

Katy Zimmermann and Melinda Bigelow Dyk

Ola (ENSC alumna), Melinda, and Kelly Thrippleton

Richard Belcher

UCR represented at Green Chemistry Conference

2008-11-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Nov. 10, there was a conference at the Beckman Center at UC Irvine focusing on Green Chemistry and Environmental Health. It was interesting to hear and see many of the prominent advocates of Green Chemistry and hear the perspectives of those of a like mind in the Environmental Health field. I attended with five or six of graduate students from UCR. Above is a picture of a number of us outside of the Beckman Center.

Yinsheng Wang appointed Chair of the ETOX Program

2008-11-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

Our congratulations to Yinsheng Wang who has been appointed Chair of the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program. Yinsheng is a member of the Chemistry Department and has an active research program in the area of oxidative damage to DNA. We look forward to working with Yinsheng as he takes the leadership of the Program. Details about Yinsheng's research as well as a nice picture of his research group can be found by clicking here.

Visit with Eric Kwok

2008-11-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week following a meeting in Sacramento, I was able to drop by and have a nice visit with ETOX alumnus Eric Kwok (Ph.D., 1993) at CalEPA. In addition to being an active family man, Eric has recently completed a major risk assessment document on o-phenylphenol and a couple of years ago, successfully completed the D.A.B.T. exam. Above is a photo of Eric with his DABT certificate. It was nice to see Eric and to hear more about his achievements.