Dr. Ester Omaiye, an ETOX alumna and currently a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. Prue Talbot, has recently been appointed as Chair of the Postdoctoral Association Executive Board of the Society of Toxicology. Our thanks to Ester for this service to our profession and our congratulations to her for this nice recognition.
Recent studies by Prue Talbot, a Professor of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology and ETOX faculty member, and Shabnam Etemadi, a bioengineering graduate student, have shown that concentrations of menthol, similar to those from exposure to cigarettes, adversely affect human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The effects occurred through activation of stress-related channels in the cells which, as described in a recent UCR News article, "led to inhibition of cell growth, increased cell death, and abnormal cell movement in the hESCs,” said Shabnam Etemadi, the first author of the research paper. Our congratulations to Shabnam and Prue for this interesting and important work. [The photo of Shabnam and Prue shown above is from the UCR News article.]
Adler Dillman, a Professor in the Nematology Department and ETOX faculty member, will be speaking in this year's College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Science Lecture Series. His presentation is entitled, "Parasitic Nematodes: Masters of Disguise" and will be presented on Saturday, May 3 at 2 pm. To find out more and to reserve a seat, go to the CNAS website. Our congratulations to Adler for this recognition of his work.
Changcheng Zhou, Professor of Biomedical Sciences and ETOX faculty member, has recently been elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). As described in a recent Inside UCR article, AAAS fellows are elected by their peers for this "lifetime distinction, which recognizes outstanding research, leadership, teaching, mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science." Prof. Zhou studies the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. Chengcheng's election was also spotlighted in the recent Society of Toxicology Weekly Update. Our congratulations to Changcheng for this prestigious honor.
🎉🎉🎉On a related note, this is blog post #700, a notable milestone for this blog. 🎆🎆🎆
Several UCR attendees we're recognized at the 2025 Society of Toxicology (SOT) meeting that took place in March in Orlando, FL. Wei-Chun Chou, a professor in the Environmental Sciences Department and an ETOX faculty member received the 2025 American Association of Chinese in Toxicology (AACT) JOINN Biomere Outstanding Young Toxicologist Award as well as a certificate of recognition for his service to the specialty group. Alexa Canchola, a postdoctoral fellow and ETOX alumna, was awarded a travel award from the Southern California Chapter of the SOT. Kunpeng Chen, a postdoctoral fellow and Environmental Sciences Graduate Program Alumnus, also received the Biological Modeling Specialty Section (BMSS) Best Trainee Abstract Award – Honorable Mention. Our congratulations to Wei-Chun, Alexa and Kunpeng for these nice recognitions.
Sharada Balakrishnan, an ETOX alumna who is currently working at California EPA's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) attended the 2025 Society of Toxicology meeting this week in Orlando, Florida. She sent me the following photos of ETOX alumni that she ran into at the meeting. It is great to see that they are doing well. The alumni names and current employers (shown in parentheses) are below.
From left to right: Sharada Balakrishnan (DTSC), Efrem Neuworth (DTSC) and Drew Olaharski (Relay Therapeutics)
On Feb. 6, 2025, the UC Riverside held an awards dinner at the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside to recognize faculty on campus who had been promoted or were recipients of national awards. The Environmental Toxicology Faculty were well represented. Below are the names and recognitions received by our faculty. More information about the event can be found in a recent Inside UCR News article.
Promotion to Associate Professor with tenure: Joseph Genereux, Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka and Samantha Ying
Promotion to Full Professor: Emma Aronson
Advancement to Professor Step VI: Jason Cheng and Ryan Julian
Advancement to Distinguished Professor: Dan Schlenk
David Eastmond - Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Education Award and Women in Toxicology Special Interest Group of the Society of Toxicology Mentoring Award
Our congratulations to all of these faculty members for their promotions and recognitions. [The photo is from the Inside UCR article.]
