Seasons Greetings from Riverside

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Positions at EPA

Thanks to ETOX alumna Heidi Bethel who forwarded the information below:

Please circulate the following information to individuals in your
organization and anyone who may be interested in applying for this
position.

The Ecosystem Assessment Branch (EAB), of the Gulf Ecology Division
(GED), National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
(NHEERL), Office of Research and Development (ORD) located in Gulf
Breeze, Florida, is currently advertising for the position of Research
Ecologist (GS-0408 12/13). Two vacancy announcements have been posted on
the Office of Personnel Management website, USA JOBS at
http://www.usajobs.gov under the following numbers:

Research Ecologist, GS-0408-12/13

RTP-MP-2008-0394 (open to Federal competitive status eligibles and
other special groups as listed in the announcement)
http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ftva.asp?seeker=1&JobID=76658881

RTP-DE-2008-0182. (open to all U.S. citizens)
http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/ftva.asp?seeker=1&JobID=76658671


The vacancy announcements close November 12, 2008.

Duties and Responsibilities: At the full performance level, the
incumbent conducts estuarine and coastal research to improve
understanding of ecosystem condition and production of ecological
services associated with anthropogenic stressors. Stressors of interest
include, but are not limited to, changes in nutrient loading, habitat
alterations, contaminants, and changing watershed attributes. Projects
may include mathematical modeling of coastal ecosystems, using both
established and innovative methods in systems ecology, demographic
analysis, geo-spatial analysis, and multivariate statistical analysis to
improve understanding of complex coastal ecosystems and their links to
the terrestrial landscape for use in making predictions for the outcomes
of management alternatives. The incumbent will develop ecosystem
services models at multiple spatial and temporal scales and provide
leadership to the Coastal Assessment and Services research team at the
Gulf Ecology Division which is currently focused on quantifying and
valuating ecological services in wetlands and other ecosystems in
coastal landscapes such as the Tampa Bay region. Coordination with a
larger group of Ecological Research Program scientists is necessary to
facilitate integration across multiple ecological service projects.
Research findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed
publications, reports and presentations, and the incumbent will assist
in outreach and technology transfer to EPA program and regional offices.
The incumbent will help in setting research directions and
implementation of field and laboratory research to support EPA's
strategic goals for quantifying ecological services, assessing water
quality, and healthy ecosystems. The development and participation in
scientific partnerships with state agencies, federal agencies, and
academic institutions will be needed to achieve research goals.

The US EPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Toxicology position at Alcon in Irvine

Our thanks to Karen Riveles (Ph.D. 2004) who forwarded the following information about a toxicology position in Irvine, CA.

TOXICOLOGIST (Irvine, CA)

Alcon, Inc. is the world's leading eye care company with sales of $5.6 billion in 2007. The company’s nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, work in 75 facilities around the world to research, develop, manufacture and sell eye care products in more than 180 countries. Alcon is the largest specialty eye care company in the world and leads the growing $14.5 billion market for eye care products. Alcon has delivered strong and stable growth for over 60 years, and it is positioned to build on this record in the years to come. For ten consecutive years, Fortune magazine has selected Alcon as "One of the 100 Best Companies to Work For". Alcon's U.S. Operations is headquartered at its 300-acre campus located in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information on Alcon, Inc., visit the Company’s web site at www.alcon.com.

This position is located in Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities:
This individual will direct Toxicology department activities associated with the Instrumentation product line (medical devices) reporting to the Functional Manager of Surgical Toxicology (R&D) located at Corporate in Fort Worth, TX with a matrix reporting to Irvine Technology Center (ITC) in Irvine, CA.

Key accountabilities include:
• Ensuring all product safety testing plans, registration activities, government submissions, and design control activities are addressed in accordance with R&D requirements and timelines for instrumentation products at the Irvine and Grieshaber facilities.
• Ensuring all product safety testing plans, registration activities, government submissions, and design control activities are addressed for marketed product process changes for instrumentation products in accordance with R&D requirements. This responsibility requires routine interaction with multiple manufacturing facilities.
• Conducting and reporting GLP-regulated toxicity studies; Preparing toxicology sections of regulatory submissions.
• Acting as the liaison between Corporate Toxicology and ITC facility management
• Ensuring overall compliance of assigned projects with appropriate regulations (i.e. GLP, FDA, ISO).
• Provide expert scientific opinion on government regulations and guidelines that affect the instrumentation product line.

Qualifications:
• PhD in Toxicology, Pharmocology, or equivalent.
• 7-10 Years of experience.
• Excellent communication skills and interpersonal skills.
• Team Player.
• Must be available for up to 10 % travel.

Our generous benefits package includes the Alcon 401(k) Plan which matches employee contributions up to 5% of eligible pay at the rate of $1.00 for each dollar contributed, and the Alcon Retirement Plan (ARP), a qualified plan in which Alcon contributes 7% of eligible pay to the accounts of all eligible employees. By combining the Company's contributions to the 401(k) and ARP, employees can receive up to 12% of eligible pay from Alcon towards retirement. Alcon also offers medical, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, an on-site fitness center and much more. Consider having all this in a fast paced environment within a stable world-class organization.

If interested, contact:
Amy G. Morita - HR Recruiter
Alcon Labs
15800 Alton Pkwy.
Irvine, CA 92618
949) 753-6766 - Direct 949) 753- 6584 - Fax
www.alcon.com

Dr. Jeff Wong Presents Seminar and Meets with Students

On Wednesday, Oct. 1, Dr. Jeffrey Wong, chief scientist with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, California EPA visited campus to present a seminar and meet with students and faculty. His seminar was entitled, " Nanotechnology: Promise and Peril". We appreciate Jeff's willingness to come and share his insights into this emerging area and meet with our students. Above is a photo of Dr. Wong meeting with ETOX graduate students in an open forum before his seminar.

New Fellowships at FDA

The FDA is launching a new two-year fellowship program this fall to provide an opportunity for health professionals and other scientists to receive training and experience at this important regulatory agency. As described on the website, the selected fellows will train minutes from the nation's Capital at FDA's new campus in White Oak, Maryland or at other FDA facilities. Stipends are described as extremely competitive, a generous housing allowance is provided, and travel funds are available to attend scientific meetings. The deadline for applications is Aug. 29, 2008. For more information, please click here.

Postdoctoral position at the Pasteur Institute in Paris

The Pasteur Institute has a special postdoctoral fellowship for US citizens that allows them to work at the Institute in Paris for up to 3 years. The application deadline for this year is Sept. 5, 2008. If you would like more information, please click here.

Postdoctoral position at UCSF

Below is the text of a message that was recently forwarded to me. If you would like a copy of the complete job description which is mentioned in the message, please send me an email and I will forward it to you.

The UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment is seeking a Post Doctoral Researcher to work on two separate, but related projects that both focus on incorporating new and emerging science into environmental health policy and decision making. The first project focuses on addressing health risks related to products of nanotechnology, and the second project explores using new scientific information to identify adverse effects of exposure to environmental chemicals. The job description is attached to this e-mail, and if you know of any excellent candidates who are interested in living and working in the Bay Area, please let them know. If possible please post the attached job description on your internal listserv or website. Thank you.

Sarah Futernick
Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
University of California at San Francisco
1330 Broadway Street, Suite 1100
Oakland, CA 94612
Ph: (510) 986-8974
Fax: (510) 896-8960

News and photos from alumni Cindy Giver and Eric Gilbert

Below is a message and some nice photos that were sent by Cindy Giver (Ph.D. 1997) who is married to Eric Gilbert (Ph.D. 1997).

Eric and I have boy/girl twins named Abby and Coby. They will turn 2 years old next month! With both of us in academic jobs, we definitely have our hands full! They are growing so fast and talking more all the time. We recently had the pleasure of a brief visit from Andrew Grosovsky, who came to Atlanta for an educational conference. It was great to spend some time with him, he came to see where I work at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute, and even came to Coby and Abby's preschool. He also got to talk with Eric and they noted many similarities between Eric's school, Georgia State University, and Andrew's new school, University of Massachusetts, Boston. I'm also including a photo taken last year, when Leslie Smith [(Ph.D. 1996)] came to town for an art show. It was so nice to see her and do some catching up. We have also been lucky to see Mike McCullar [(Ph.D. 1996)] a few times in recent years because the American Society of Hematology Meeting that he and I both attend was in Atlanta. So if any of you ETOX alumni out there are ever in Atlanta for a meeting or just passing through, e-mail me and let's get together! cgiver@emory.edu

Eric, Andrew and Cindy

Cindy, Leslie, Eric and kids

Abby and Coby

Podcast by Alumna Heidi Bethel

The UCR Career Center recently interviewed Heidi Bethel (Ph.D. 2002) about the internship program at the US EPA that Heidi participated in after her graduation. It is a nice way to find out about the internship program and to hear a little bit of Heidi's experiences since graduating. The podcast can be accessed here. More information about the EPA internship program can be found here. The website indicates that updated information about this year's internship program will be posted in September.

Faculty News Update

Over the past several months, there have been a number of significant events that have involved the ETOX Program faculty. Several notable ones are listed below.

Bill Jury, a renowned scientist and expert in chemical movement through soils, retired from the university at the end of June, and has now joined the ranks of the emeritus faculty.

Andrew Chang, an agricultural engineer and director of the UC Center of Water Resources, retired earlier this year, and has also joined the emeritus faculty ranks. We wish both Bill and Andrew the best as they begin this new phase of life.

Lisa Stein, an environmental microbiologist in the Department of Environmental Sciences, has accepted an offer from the University of Alberta in Canada, and will soon be leaving UCR to join the faculty there. We will miss her.

Paul Ziemann, professor of Environmental Sciences, as accepted the position of Director of the Air Pollution Research Center. He replaces Roger Atkinson who has served as the Director for 13 years. We wish Paul success in leading APRC.

David Eastmond, currently the Program chair, has accepted the position as Chair of the Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience. He replaces Sarjeet Gill who will be going on sabbatical leave this upcoming year. Until a replacement is identified, Dave will be chairing both organizations.

Photos from the Annual Student Symposium 2008

This year's annual student symposium took place on Tuesday June 17. There were 24 superb student presentations as well as a hosted lunch and evening reception. Catherine Gibbons won the T. Roy Fukuto award, Melinda Bigelow Dyk and Noriko Nishino were honorable mentions, and Katy Zimmermann received the award for best 1st year student presentation. Dr. Sam Wilson, Acting Director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program, and Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, Associate Director of NIEHS, were visiting campus, and agreed to come and make a few remarks at the end of the symposium. Dr. Wilson is an expert in DNA repair and is probably the highest ranking toxicologist in government. Dr. Hrynkow, a neuroscientist by training, has extensive experience in science policy and international outreach. It was nice to hear from them and be able to visit with them in an informal setting. 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, Dr. Wenwan Zhong, Chris Banks, JP Baquiran, Karla Pliego, and Lynnie Cua and Mae Nillos) for organizing the Symposium and Reception. Photos from the event are posted below.

Dr. Sam Wilson

Dr. Sharon Hrynkow
Drs. Wilson and Hrynkow responding to questions
Bob Krieger receiving the Mentor Award
Award winners: Katy Zimmermann, Noriko Nishino, Catherine Gibbons and Melinda Bigelow Dyk (with Dave Eastmond behind)
Kelly Thrippleton announcing the student choice awards

Katy Zimmerman, Wesley Hunter, Chris Banks, Kristy Richardson, Kelly Thrippleton

Catherine Gibbons, this year's Fukuto award winner.

Greetings and a photo from alumnus Eric Kwok

Eric Kwok (Ph.D., 1993) is currently working at California Department of Pesticide Regulation and sends the following greeting and photo of himself with his two children (above).

“Greeting ETOX Professors and Students. At work, another year of happy risk assessment has completed. At home, my older girl is going to kindergarten this fall and her younger brother starts talking to her in mandarin that I have problems understanding. Anyhow, happy student seminar day and good luck to you all.”

News and a photo from alumna Tracey Varvel

Tracy Varvel (M.S., 2003) is currently working at Ana-Lab Corporation in Kilgore, Texas. She recently sent the photo of her son (above) and the following news update for the annual student symposium. It is nice to hear from her, and it sounds like she is busy but doing well.

My husband and I welcomed our first child July 1, 2007. His name is Mark and he an extremely active little boy. He has been a blessing. Brett and I wonder now why we waited so long to have children.

I returned to work after maternity leave to a new position: Assistant Manager Quality Assurance. The new position and extra responsibilities have been a challenge, especially with a new baby at home. After several months, I am still feeling my way around and trying to get everything organized in my department.

I wish everyone the best of luck with their presentations.

Tracey Varvel
Ana-Lab Corporation

New Triennial Salary Survey of Toxicologists Published

Every three years, for the past 20 or so years, Shayne Gad and others such as the Society of Toxicology have conducted a salary survey of toxicologists. The latest survey results obtained from over 3400 toxicologists are available on the SOT website in their newsletter (Communique) and can be accessed by clicking. Hopefully you will find this information to be helpful.

Update and photo from alumna Sharada Balakrishnan

Sharada Balakrishnan (Ph.D., 2002) sends the following update and photo of her husband Nara and their twins (or a photo of the 3 boys as she describes it).

I still work with Wella Corp. (now P&G Professional Care). I completed my DABT certification last year and continue to work on human safety risk assessments of ingredients and finished hair care products. In addition, I work with the Genetox group on genotoxicity assays for hair dyes and other materials. This location of Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs will close in August. I will look for another job in the meantime. At the home front, Arya and Arav are growing up fast (2+ yrs old now) and keeping us super busy. Nara continues to work close to home (which is a blessing).

Wishing all the very best to the graduate students and the professors of the ETOX program. Enjoy the seminar day.

Best Regards,

Sharada

Richardson and Cua Named Outstanding TAs

Lynnie Cua and Kristy Richardson were recently named outstanding Teaching Assistants for this year. Lynnie was recognized for her teaching in the Microbiology program and Kristy for her teaching in the Biology major. Congratulations to both Lynnie and Kristy for this nice recognition.

Congratulations to Carl Cranor for Distinguished Service Award

Earlier this week, it was announced that Carl Cranor, an ETOX faculty member, was the recipient of the Distiguished Service Award from the UCR Division of the Academic Senate. Congratulations to Carl for this well-deserved recognition. The text of announcement is below.

Professor Cranor has a long history of extraordinary service and dedication to his department, college, and the UCR campus at large. His service to UCR spans approximately three decades and is distinguished by the exceptional number of positions that he has held. Dr. Cranor served as Chair of the Philosophy Department during a period of exceptional growth, as Interim Chair of the History Department, as Acting Chair of the Department of Hispanic Studies on two separate occasions, as Acting Director of Physical Education, and most recently as Chair of the Department of Finance and Management Sciences. He has also served for eight years as Associate Dean of CHASS and for an extended period as the Interim Dean of CHASS.
In addition he has accumulated an impressive history of important committee assignments and contributions to the UCR community. These include taking a leadership role in the establishment of the undergraduate Law and Society major, chairmanship of architectural projects for CHASS, participation in a carcinogen risk assessment project for UCR, and service on particularly demanding Senate committees such as CAP and the Graduate Council.
The letters of nomination for Professor Cranor all stressed his fairness, his willingness to help even in sometimes difficult circumstances, and the high level of trust he engendered in his colleagues. All of his nominators make clear that Professor Cranor’s dedication and service to UCR have been truly extraordinary.

Positions in biotech company

Below are key parts of an email that was forwarded from one of our alumni Chris Frantz (Ph.D, 1998) that briefly describes two positions that are available at ENZON, a small biotech company. If interested, please contact Brian Xu at the contact numbers below.

Dear Friends,
I just moved on to a new challenging position in ENZON, a small biotechnology company. Enclosed is my new contact information. Please keep in touch.
Additionally, I ask your help. Currently, I have two opening positions:

· Toxicologist with ~3 yr experience in study director/monitor in CRO or pharm/biotech who will participate in drug development teams, develop plans for studies to support regulatory submissions and for research toxicology studies, and work with CRO to develop protocols, execute and monitor studies, review data and review and revise reports for toxicology and safety pharmacology studies, etc.

· Junior PhD scientist with/without working experience who will reviews literature, initiate and conduct investigative tox/metabolism studies.

Please let me know if you know anyone who is available. Thanks.

Best Wishes

J. Brian Xu, MD, PhD, DABT
Director, Drug Safety & Disposition
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc
20 Kingsbridge Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854

Tel no. 732-980-4791
Fax no. 732-980-4765

E-mail: brian.xu@enzon.com

News and photo from alumna Ling Wang

Below is a message received from ETOX alumna Ling Wang (Ph.D. 2002) who works at BD Technologies in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. A photo of her two children is above.

Thanks for the inviting message and wish the ETOX symposium is another success. I really look forward to receiveing a booklet this year as somehow I didn't receive one last year.

Thanks Dr. Eastmond for keeping the blog running which provides an excellent route for us to visit and share the ETOX news. Like I read the news about Jennifer Sasaki and her husband's visit to UCR in April, and I actually met Jennifer early this month (May) at a conference in Boston. It was a pleasant surprise and I really enjoyed the interaction with her.

During the past year working for BD Technologies, I've been continuously responsible for the development and applications of a flow cytometry-based screening technology for cellular surface protein characterization--BD FACS™ CAP (Combinational Antibody Profile). It has been rather successful this year not only as a R&D project but also has become a stand-alone service provided by BD. So far we have successfully serviced two industrial customers for the characterization of their proprietary stem cells. If interested in more details, you are more than welcome to visit the following links where you would see what's my work about. Now we are aiming to develop the next generation of this platform.
Click here or here for more information.

As a family, we continue to enjoy the busy but peaceful life in North Carolina. Amy will soon be a second grader and Ethan is in his threes. We send Amy to a local Chinese language school every Saturday, and attached is a picture of her and Ethan taken during a picnic sponsored by the Chinese school just yesterday.

Look forward to hearing news from everyone, and best wishes to everyone!
Ling

News and photo from alumna Heidi Bethel

Below is a message and above is a photo that ETOX alumna Heidi Bethel (Ph.D., 2002) sent for the annual symposium.

Happy Seminar Day! Wish I could be there to participate with you, but the drive is a little far! :-)

My news is that Kris and I are still living in Alexandria, Virginia. Kris works for the Army and I work in the Office of Water for the U.S. EPA in Washington, D.C.. I have been working on all things related to human health risk assessment in recent days. I am learning a lot and having fun.

On a personal note, Kris and I have been enjoying travel around the world this past year. In November 2007, we took a trip to London, Paris, Nice and Barcelona and enjoyed it very much. In March I traveled to Kenya and Tanzania with my 72 year old Aunt. It was the trip of a lifetime. Despite all of the political unrest in Kenya following the December election, I can honestly say that the worst part of the whole trip was the yellow fever shot before the trip that made me sick. We did not have any problems in Kenya or witness any violence. The people of Kenya all extended their warmest welcome to Americans and wanted us to assure everyone that it is safe to travel there.

Attached is a picture of a school visit in Tanzania. On the far right is the teacher of the class. The students at the school were impressively intelligent. They had no books and had to copy everything into their notebooks. The student sitting next to me said that he wanted to be President when he grows up!

Please give my best to all of the ETOX students presenting at seminar day.

Heidi

News and photo from alumna Lizhen Yan

Lizhen Yan (Ph.D. 1997) is a clinical research specialist at Merck in Rahway, New Jersey. On April 29, 2007, she ran her first half marathon, then on Nov 04, 2007, she ran the New York City's full marathon (see picture of Lizhen, her husband and ETOX alumnus Guoqiang Jiang and their child). She writes that starting the running of a marathon in middle 40s has completely changed her mind-set of what a person can do. She is currently the Rahway Chapter Chair for Merck's Asian Pacific Network and is an executive board member of Merck's Toastmasters Club. Recently (May, 2008), she was voted as Merck's most amazing woman. Our congratulations to Lizhen for these impressive achievements!

Positions available

Recently I have become aware of a number of positions that are available. A brief description of the position and where to find more information is presented below.

The firm Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment (TERA) is looking for a recent graduate or postdoctoral fellow to fill a molecular toxicologist position. A senior scientist position is also available. More information can be found at here.

The consulting firm ChemRisk is also looking for individuals with recent degrees in toxicology and related degrees. More information can be found here.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking qualified applicants for multiple positions to work in the Ambient Standards Group (ASG), Health and Environmental Impacts Division (HEID), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) in Research Triangle Park., NC that is within EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) - see http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps for more information on OAQPS. Specifically, EPA is seeking Epidemiologists/Health Scientists/Toxicologists/Ecologists/Biologists who will play key roles in planning and managing the scientific/policy assessments for the criteria air pollutants, review the national standards for these pollutants, serve as lead authors for the health- or welfare-related sections of the risk/exposure analyses and policy assessments, and participate in public review meetings.

Epidemiologist/Health Scientist Vacancy Number: RTP-DE-2008-0106; RTP-MP-2008-0175 Series/Grade: GS-601-11/12/13

Interdisciplinary Health Scientist/ Vacancy Number: RTP-DE-2008-0110; RTP-MP-2008-0194 Toxicologist/Physical Scientist Series/Grade: GS-601/1301/1530-11/12/13

Ecologist/Biologist Vacancy Number: RTP-DE-2008-0133; RTP-MP-2008-0243
Series/Grade: GS-0401/0408-11/12/13

Open Period: May 28 - June 23, 2008

If you are interested, please contact me at david.eastmond@ucr.edu and I will forward the email with the information.

In the News: Cranor Speaks on Chemical Toxicity

Dr. Carl Cranor, ETOX faculty member and member of the Department of Philosophy, recently spoke about "Chemical Toxicity in Children and Adults: Moral and Regulatory Issues" as part of UC San Francisco's Perspectives in Medical Humanities seminar series. For more details about his talk and the series, please go the the InsideUCR website.

Jury receives Distinguished Alumni Award

On May 2 at an awards and honors banquet in Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Bill Jury, an ETOX faculty member and member of the Environmental Sciences Department, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Fellow Award from the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin. The award is intended for an alumnus “who has earned the respect and admiration of the physics community.” We congratulate Bill in this well-deserved recognition. Additional details can be found at the Inside UCR website.

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