Training Program in Environmental Toxicology

Abstract Environmental agents play a significant role in the development of human disease. The identification of such toxicants and understanding their causal role in disease can rapidly be used in risk assessment and management and holds enormous promise in terms of preventive, therapeutic and clinical scenarios. This application requests funds to continue NYU’s training program in human health assessment and environmental and molecular toxicology. Specifically, we request funding to support the stipends and tuition of 6 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral trainees annually in the NYU Graduate Program in Environmental Health Sciences. The training will address a broad spectrum of problems in environmental health, from the causative molecular mechanisms of cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases, and other environmentally-related disorders to the development of animal models which may be used for predicting the adverse effects of environmental agents on human health. The major strength of the proposed toxicology training program is the outstanding quality and interdisciplinary diversity of the training faculty, which will provide the predoctoral trainees an excellent opportunity to conduct environmental and molecular toxicology research in laboratories of investigators with outstanding international reputations. The mission of this training program is to develop creative and independent research scientists who can address the problems presented by complex exposures to environmental pollutants in combination with the stresses of a rapidly changing physical environment.