This proposal is to establish a new T32 program in Regulatory Science in Environmental Health and Toxicology at Texas A&M University. Funds are requested to support four pre-doctoral (Ph.D. candidates) and two post-doctoral trainees in the existing highly integrated degree-granting Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology program. The goal is to prepare trainees to function as independent researchers and/or practitioners in a multidisciplinary setting, by providing training in mechanistic research and risk assessment with a focus on scientifically sound, risk-based regulatory evaluations of the effects of chemicals on human health and the environment. To achieve this goal a team of 18 outstanding investigators has been assembled with specialties in Toxicology, Public Health, Risk Assessment, Exposure Science, Geochemistry, Cancer Biology, Epidemiology and Statistics. Recruitment will be conducted through traditional external advertisement, as well as from the externally funded Texas A&M research experience for undergraduates and public health and toxicology masters-level traineeship programs. Trainees will undertake two laboratory rotations in their first year in the program and follow a structured core academic curriculum that includes basic and advanced toxicology, pathology, biochemistry, statistics and research ethics, combined with courses in risk assessment and exposure assessment. In the second year, additional specialized training in either a Mechanistic Research or a Health Assessment track will be offered through elective courses that will further prepare trainees for careers in research and/or public health practice. A distinctive feature of the program is a strongly encouraged hands-on summer externship through a broad and diverse network of state and federal governmental regulatory agencies, as well as industry and non-governmental organizations. Following the first two years, trainee support for both pre- and post-doctoral fellows will shift to their mentor's or independent funding The proposed mentors have strong records of competitive support from Federal, State and other sources and this group is exceptionally well balanced with respect to expertise, gender and academic career level. Graduates from the program will be highly successful in academia, industry, governmental agencies and other professional settings and will improve public health protection through innovative and rigorous mechanistic research and risk assessment practice in support of science-based regulatory decision-making.
This training program builds on a long-standing and successful history of training scientists for careers in toxicology and environmental health at Texas A&M University. We aim to strengthen training and research base and also to provide unique focus on regulatory science, a scientific discipline consisting of the development and application of scientific methods, tools, and approaches that are used to support regulatory and other policy objectives. As the fields of toxicology and environmental health acquire new tools to better detect and characterize human health hazards, our trainees will receive a strong, broad background in basic science with opportunities to specialize in research and/or decision-making for protection of public health and the environment.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 14 publications
