UCR Graduate Students serving in Society of Toxicology

I wasn't able to attend the Society of Toxicology's annual meeting this year.  Apparently, UCR was well represented.  Of note, UCR has a number of students serving as graduate student representatives on various SOT committees.  Lauren Walker and Monique Williams, Ph.D. students in the ETOX program serve on the Women in Toxicology and the Regulatory and Safety Evaluation committees, respectively.  Another PhD. student working in Prue Talbot's lab, Giovanna Pozuelos, a CMDB student, serves as the student representative to the Southern California Chapter of the SOT.  Our thanks to these students for their service. 

New Book on Toxic Chemicals by Carl Cranor

Carl Cranor, distinguished professor of philosophy and ETOX faculty member at the University of California, Riverside has recently published a book entitled, “Tragic Failures: How and Why We are Harmed by Toxic Chemicals”.  As explained on the UCR Today website (the source of the photo above and where there is a more complete description), the book describes "the origins of federal regulation of toxic substances, and why only food, drugs, and pesticides are tested before going to market".  Our congratulations to Carl for his latest achievement. 

Updated FDA internship information - Graduate students eligible

I received the following as a update on the FDA internship from Dan Levy this morning. 

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Summer Internship: Food Ingredient Cancer Safety Assessment at the FDA

Over the last 30 years, the Office of Food Additive Safety has completed over 150 cancer risk assessments of food additives, color additives and their impurities.  For many of the impurities quantitative risk assessments were performed to develop a “Unit Cancer Risk” (UCR) used to calculate acceptable levels in human food.  Most of the memoranda describing these assessments have been located in FDA electronic databases during previous student projects.  The current project is to complete the task of locating files, particularly the older ones, and carefully review them to tabulate the criteria used to support the regulatory conclusion to support development of standardized evaluation criteria to ensure consistency in future evaluations.  The student may also search biomedical literature for evidence of more recent cancer bioassays on substances evaluated in the past to see if there are opportunities for updated evaluations.

Requirements:

The candidate must be a U.S. citizen and have a high school diploma. The candidate must have taken college or graduate-level coursework in biology. Coursework in toxicology, pharma-cology, physiology, or related disciplines is desired but not required. Candidates who feel that their education, experience, or other capabilities are equivalent and suitable to the position may be considered.  A background check is required for this position.

Duration: 3 months.

Appointment Period: From: June 1, 2017 to August 31, 2017 (flexible start and end dates).

Stipend: $800 per week (possibly more for graduate students)

Work site: College Park, Maryland.

Application deadline: MARCH 27, 2017

To apply, please send a resume, list of relevant courses, and a brief (maximum 1 page) cover letter describing which aspects of the project are most attractive to you and how participation would fit into your education/career plan.  .

For more information contact Dr. Dan D. Levy, Chair

Cancer Assessment Committee

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Tel:      240 402 2581

Dan.Levy@fda.hhs.gov

Flowers in Sycamore Canyon Park

This year we finally got a lot of rain (at least for Southern California).  As a result, the wildflowers are in bloom and it is very pretty.  Below are some photos that I took while biking in Sycamore Canyon Park this morning. 

 

Intern for undergraduate student at FDA

The Office of Food Safety at the FDA has an opening for an undergraduate to help them compile information and assist with safety evaluations of food ingredients.  The candidate should be a currently enrolled undergraduate student who has successfully completed two years of a math or science major including one year each of college level math and biology.  Coursework in mammalian physiology, toxicology and statistics are helpful but not required.

The project comes with a stipend for 12 weeks.  The work site is College Park, Maryland.

For more information contact Dr. Dan D. Levy, Chair

Cancer Assessment Committee

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Tel:      240 402 2581

Dan.Levy@fda.hhs.gov

Graciel Diamante's Research and Background Spotlighted

ETOX student Graciel Diamante is a Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Scholar.  Her research on PAH in zebrafish and her own background have recently been spotlighted on the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative website.  Our congratulations to Graciel (and indirectly to Dan Schlenk, her Ph.D. advisor) for this nice recognition.  The article can be accessed here.  Above is a picture of Graciel presenting her work at the annual student symposium a couple of years ago. 

Toxicologist position in the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality

Received from ETOX alumnus Efrem Neuwirth this morning.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently recruiting for an Toxicologist 9-P11 position within the Water Resources Division.  This position is permanent and is located in Lansing, MI.  Interested applicants must apply through NEOGOV.

If you are interested in obtaining more information or applying for these positions, click on this link.