UCR well represented at the UC Toxics Annual Meeting at the Mission Inn

On April 11-12, the systemwide UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program held its annual meeting at the Mission Inn in Riverside. A number of our students who are receiving support from the Program presented posters and Jay Gan gave a nice talk about his research on pyrethroids. In addition, a substantial number of our students and faculty attended. Below are a series of photos that my wife Elizabeth and I took at the symposium.

Opening reception. See if you can find the 3 UCR students.

Karla Pliego

Heather (Yehong) Wang

Mae Nillos, JP Baquiran and Dr. Dan Schlenk

Melinda Bigelow, Katy Zimmermann, Karla Pliego and Cathy Cathers

Dr. Bob Krieger

Yanhong Li

Homero Camacho

Mae Nillos and Catherine Gibbons

Catherine Gibbons, Karla Pliego and Katy Zimmermann

Karla Pliego, Cathy Cathers, Elizabeth Eastmond, Katy Zimmermann, Noriko Nishino, Melinda Bigelow

Yong Jiang, Yanhong Li, Wesley Hunter

Drs. John Knezovich and David Eastmond

Dr. Jay Gan

Zhenshan Chen and Sukon Aimanant

Sharon Walker recognized as Woman of Distinction

Sharon Walker, a relatively new ETOX faculty member, was recently recognized by the Girl Scouts of the San Gorgonio Council as one of the top 10 female leaders in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Sharon is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and according to the Inside UCR newspaper, was selected for the 2008 Women of Distinction for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Her research focuses on the investigating factors controlling bacterial adhesion and transport as it affects water quality. She has recently begun similar studies of the movement of nanoparticles through soil. We congratulate Sharon on this nice recognition.

Alvaro Alvarado presents seminar at UCR

On April 2, Alvaro Alvarado (Ph.D., 1998) returned to UCR to speak in the Environmental Toxicology Seminar series. His talk was entitled, "Quantifying the Health Impacts of Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter” and drew upon his experience working with both the federal EPA and his more recent experience working at the California Air Resources Board. Following his seminar at lunch, he talked to a group of our graduate students about working in government and his experiences in applying and interviewing for positions. It was an enjoyable visit and I know the students appreciated his insights about job hunting. [I forgot to take a picture during his visit but a recent picture of Alvaro and his daughter can be seen on the ETOX blog as one of last summer's posts.]

Postdoctoral positions at the US EPA

I recently received notice of several postdoctoral positions that are available at the US EPA. Brief descriptions are posted below. More details can be found at the EPA website.

NOTICE
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development (ORD)
CROSS-ORD INTERDISCIPLINARY POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH PROGRAM

ORD is accepting applications through April 4, 2008, for several Federal,
four-year, post-doctoral positions. Candidates will engage in cross-cutting
research in the following identified areas (details follow):

- Valuation of Ecosystem Services for Decision Support
- Systems Toxicology Modeling with Small Fish
- Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Tools for Waterborne Pathogens
- Climate and Air Quality Interactions: Global to Regional Linkages
- Quantifying Uncertainty in Exposure-to-Effects Models for Pyrethroid
Pesticides
- Mapping Toxicity Pathways for Environmental Chemicals

Mentors will be assigned from appropriate ORD Labs and Centers based upon the
nature of the cross-ORD interdisciplinary research.

BENEFITS
- Salary range of $54,494 - $84,913
- Full four-year appointments
- Paid relocation to EPA duty location
- Vacation and sick leave
- Federal health benefits, life insurance, and retirement program
- Travel to professional and scientific meetings
- Flexible start date in 2008

REQUIREMENTS
- Up-to-date Curriculum Vitae
- Letter of recommendation from your research advisor or comparable official
- Cover letter indicating research activity of interest from the
aforementioned areas, summary of relevant experience, and a paragraph
describing the research you would like to conduct
- DD-214, if claiming veteran's preference

A preference is given to U.S. Citizens. Detailed information and contacts are
posted on the ORD Website at: http://www.epa.gov/ord/htm/jobs_ord.htm.
General inquiries can be directed to: Dorothy Carr at ordpostdocapps@epa.govor
1-800-433-9633.

The U.S. EPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Sasaki and Van Hummelen Visit UCR

Jennifer Sasaki (Ph.D. 1996) and her husband Paul Van Hummelen agreed to visit Riverside on their way to the SOT meeting in Seattle. On March 14, Paul presented a seminar on the current state of the art using genomics in toxicology and clinical medicine. Jennifer led a lunch discussion on career development. Both the seminar and the discussion were excellent and it was really nice to see both Jennifer and Paul again. We wish Jennifer and Paul the best of success. Above are a couple of pictures of Jennifer and a number of students (with a side shot of Paul) at the career discussion.

Beckage grant spotlighted in InsideUCR

Nancy Beckage is a co-principal investigator on a new USDA/CSREES Higher Education Challenge grant that was recently spotlighted in InsideUCR. Over the next three years, Nancy and her co-investigators will be taking students to conduct short-term research projects and develop closer relations with villagers on small farms in Mali, West Africa. We wish her and her students success in this new venture. The full article can be found at the InsideUCR.

Olaharski seminar on kinases and toxicity

Recently, we have been inviting some of our alumni to discuss their work and to meet with our students. Earlier this month on Feb. 9, Drew Olaharski (Ph.D., 2004) came to campus to present a seminar on some his work at Roche Pharmaceuticals. The seminar was entitled, "Using kinase inhibitory profiles to predict toxicity" and described their studies using information on the types and origins of kinases to predict activity in the in vitro micronucleus test. Drew gave a nice seminar and I found the the work to be quite impressive. We appreciate Drew's visit and wish him continued success. Above is a picture of Drew (on the right) and two of his colleagues with a dendrogram of the human kinome.