Training in Environmental Toxicology of Human Disease

Toxicology defines the study of adverse effects of chemical and physical agents on living organisms. Toxicology training enables individuals to blend diverse disciplines and collaborate with investigators from a variety of backgrounds to address human complex diseases.

Most human diseases are complex. This complexity is related to intricate interactions among environmental and genetic factors that alter the fundamental biophysical and biochemical properties of target organs and modify disease susceptibility by acting at critical stages of development.

The Training Program in Toxicology at the University of Arizona has responded to this challenge by training toxicologists in cellular, molecular, and physiological mechanisms by which environmental factors affect living systems.  Our faculty members are capable of training predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows.  The program has helped prepare scientists for diverse career opportunities in academia, industry and government.

Our toxicology trainees will be well prepared to merge scientific intelligence with the translational research skills necessary to apply state-of-the-art approaches to address the mechanisms by which environmental exposure influence susceptibility to complex diseases. The training environment in the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of Arizona offers both world-class facilities and outstanding faculty.

History of the Program

  • Graduate Training in Toxicology Program established in 1973
  • Ph.D. Training in Toxicology started in 1976
  • NIEHS Training Grant support since 1979
  • Oldest continuously  funded training grant at the University of Arizona
  • Over the past 10 years, our faculty have trained 160 predoctoral and 97 postdoctoral fellows at the University of Arizona

Training Grant Objectives

  1. Teach the basic principles of chemical and biological sciences as applied to toxicology
  2. Teach the specialized topics that are unique to our discipline
  3. Allow the student to specialize in allied areas through elective coursework, research, rotations, and workshops
  4. Rigorously expose the student to the application of scientific method
  5. Develop scientific writing and presentation skills
  6. Expose students to a variety of research environments to assist in developing multi-tasking skills and skills for studying complex disease
  7. Provide the opportunity for students to learn newest technology
  8. Integrate trainees into laboratories of NIEHS TG Faculty to provide dissertation research projects within the NIEHS training mission
  9. Provide training in the allied skills necessary for success in science
  10. Build career competence and confidence through career development events and interactions with alumni and successful scientists
  11. Build leadership skills through appointments at the University, regional and national organizations

How To Apply

Potential T32 trainees must be admitted to one of the following graduate programs at the University of Arizona. To apply to these programs, please visit their websites. 

UA COP - Graduate Program: Pharmacology & Toxicology
Visit the Medical Pharmacology Program

Visit Physiological Sciences Program
Visit Cancer Biology Program

First-year PhD students are supported by the Graduate Program funds while they take classes and conduct required laboratory rotations. During the spring of the first year, all students select a mentor for their dissertation work. Training grant faculty can nominate students who show leadership skills and productivity or potential in toxicology research during their second- to fourth-year of graduate training. Nominees must be US citizens or permanent residents. The NIEHS Training Program Director and Executive Committee review nominees and recommendations of faculty members for selection of new NIEHS predoctoral trainees. Selection is based on the leadership role and overall performance of the candidate shown in GRE scores, GPA scores, research productivity, and on the commitment of the candidate to the research programs within the scope of NIEHS mission. This is a competitive selection process that honors outstanding students. 

Post-Doctoral training prepares scientists for careers as independent investigators in the environmental health sciences and toxicology. The core of the post-doctoral training experience is the research project work in the mentor's laboratory. Post-doctoral training emphasizes independence of initiative and direction.

Training Grant Objectives

  1. Training projects in Environmental Toxicology of Human Disease with a high degree of individual independence
  2. Opportunities to network and collaborate with other faculty
  3. Opportunities to apply the scientific method in individual project planning and research proposal writing
  4. Opportunities to develop personnel supervisory skills
  5. Opportunities to develop teaching skills
  6. Opportunities for an enhanced level of professional leadership activity

How To Apply

Students who have graduated with a Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in basic or applied chemical or biomedical sciences may apply for these positions by contacting the Program Coordinator. Programmatic or scientific questions may be directed to the Director. Only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible for a support through the NIEHS Training Grant. We select candidates:

  • Who have demonstrated an intense interest and good potential in toxicology research
  • Who are highly motivated for a successful career in toxicology research or education
  • Who have solid course training and are ranked in the top 20% or better in their overall performance during graduate training
  • Who have at least one first authored publication in a high impact peer-reviewed journal

Contact Susanna Herndon for more information

Faculty

Paloma Beamer, PhD., Professor, Community, Environment, and Policy. Understanding individual exposures to environmental contaminants and associated health risks, with a special focus on vulnerable populations including children, low wage immigrant workers, and workers in the US-Mexico Border Region. 

Jefferey Burgess, MS, MS, MPH., Professor and Associate Dean for Research, College of Public Health. Biomarkers of respiratory system injury and cardiovascular disease in firefighters and miners. 

Qin M. Chen, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Pharmacogenetics. Mechanisms of protein translation under oxidative stress and the mechanism of cytoprotection elicited by steroid hormones.

Yin Chen, PhD., Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. The molecular machinery of human airway innate immunity which, when altered, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of various chronic lung diseases such as COPD and asthma. 

Nathan J. Cherrington, PhD., Professor and Associate Dean for Research. Alteration of xenobiotic transporters and drug metabolism genes during liver disease. 

Karletta Chief, PhD., Professor, Environmental Science. Effects of climate change on Indigenous communities based on predictions of watershed hydrology, and the effects of natural and human disturbances on soil hydrology. 

Zelieann R. Craig, PhD., Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Research, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences. Application of animal models to assess how environmental chemicals interact with ovarian function pathways to better understand, predict, and treat infertility in women.

Xinxin Ding, PhD., Professor and Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology. P450 enzyme function, regulation, and genetics for identification of genetic and environmental factors that influence the risk of chemical toxicity. 

Frank Duca, PhD., Assistant Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences. Interactions between genetic risk factors and environmental changes in obesity and diabetes. 

Leslie Farland, SC.D., Associate Professor. Women’s reproductive health and chronic disease risk, and etiology and risk factors for endometriosis, infertility, and polycystic ovary syndrome 

Melissa Furlong, PhD., Assistant Professor, Community, Environment, and Policy.  Chronic health effects of environmental contaminants, with an emphasis on pesticides and neurological outcomes. 

James Galligan, PhD., Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Link between cellular metabolism, environmental genetics, and disease etiology. 

David Garcia, Ph.D., Associate Professor. Gender and culturally sensitive interventions in large, multi-site trials to systematically influence community environments and policies in underserved populations.  

Stefano Guerra, M.D., Ph.D., Professor. Epidemiologic household-based approach to assess the prevalence and longitudinal changes in respiratory health, asthma, and COPD. 
Jason Karnes, Pharm D, PhD., Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice and Science. Cardiovascular pharmacogenomics, specifically investigating the utility of genetic polymorphisms to predict toxicities of cardiovascular drugs.

Julie Ledford, PhD., Associate Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Respiratory disease and genetic and molecular mechanisms of allergic airway diseases in children. 

Bernardo Lemos, Ph.D., Professor. Ribosomal DNA and the impact of dietary interventions and exposure to environmental toxicants on the genome and epigenome. 

Chris Lim, Ph.D., Assistant Professor. Health effects of air pollution and climate change, and whether there are disparities in exposure and associated health outcomes. 

Fernando Martinez, M.D., Professor. Natural history of childhood asthma, and the role of genetic, physiological, immunological and environmental factors as determinants of the risk for asthma in early life. 

Aikseng Ooi, PhD., Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Cellular reprogramming by environmental exposures using massive parallel sequencing and development of algorithms to decipher transcriptomic data. 

Casey Romanoski, PhD., Assistant Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine. Experimental and computational approaches to understand complex disease and human biology. 

Patrick Ronaldson, PhD., Professor, Pharmacology. Molecular mechanisms regulating environmental insult-mediated alterations at the blood-brain barrier. 

Rick Schnellmann, PhD., Professor and Dean, College of Pharmacy. Identifying molecular mechanisms of kidney toxicity and developing drugs to treat acute kidney injury and diabetic kidney disease. 

Catharine Smith, PhD., Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression, particularly their regulation through signaling pathways and their modulation by anti-cancer drugs. 

Ashley Snider, PhD., Associate Professor, School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness. Define the roles of lipid metabolic pathways, centered on bioactive sphingolipids, in intestinal inflammation and cancer and determine the mechanisms involved. 

Donata Vercelli, MD., Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine. The role of environmental exposures in asthma pathogenesis and protection, and their interactions with genetics variants. 

Frank von Hippel, PhD., Professor, Environmental Health Sciences. Wildlife and laboratory animals as models for human exposure and disease, as well as to solve problems in conservation biology. Health disparities experienced by vulnerable populations and employs a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach.  

Georg Wondrak, PhD., Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Drug discovery to target chemical mechanisms of environmental diseases including solar skin carcinogenesis. 

Qing-Yu Zhang, PhD., Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Intestinal P450 expression, clearance, and toxicity. 

Haining Zhu, PhD., Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology. Employs proteomic, biochemical and cell biology approaches to study neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.