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Among the many national SOT Awards recognizing investigators for a variety of accomplishments, two awards—the Merit Award and the Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award—honor outstanding toxicologists for lasting contributions to the broad field of toxicology.

You are encouraged to nominate deserving colleagues for these accolades by the October 9 deadline. All SOT Awards have their own criteria, so be sure to read each award description closely when making your nomination.

Merit Award

The Merit Award is presented to an SOT member to recognize distinguished contributions to toxicology throughout an entire career in areas such as research, teaching, regulatory activities, consulting, and service to the Society.

With this award comes an invitation to present the Merit Award Lecture during the SOT 61st Annal Meeting in San Diego, California.

Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award

The Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award is presented to an SOT member who has made substantial and seminal scientific contributions to our understanding of the science of toxicology. Nominees should be active scientists involved in toxicological research. The prime consideration for this award is scientific accomplishment.

The recipient of this award will be invited to deliver the Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award Lecture during the 2022 SOT Annual Meeting.

Making a Nomination

Nominations for either award should include both a primary and a secondary letter of nomination from Full members of the Society that provide in layman’s terms an analysis of the nominee’s significant contributions to toxicology and how they apply to the award criteria. The strongest nomination packages include two letters that are distinct from one another to offer more detailed support of the candidate’s qualifications. Nomination packages that include very similar letters of nomination offer less information than those that include recommendations that are varied in content. Letters of nomination should be specific and descriptive while also maintaining a level of concision. The Awards Committee will review only the two letters required to complete the nomination; no additional letters will be considered.

Nominations also should include the nominee’s up-to-date CV. For national SOT Awards, such as the Merit Award and Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award, the Awards Committee requires a standardized length for CVs included in nomination packages. CVs must be a maximum of 10 pages in length and should highlight the candidate’s most significant professional accomplishments as they relate to the criteria for the award. Awards Committee members are required to review only 10 pages of each CV; therefore, submitting a longer CV does not strengthen an award nomination.

For more information on making a nomination, please review the “Awards Review Process and FAQs” web page of the SOT website. Please direct any inquiries to SOT Headquarters.

These are opportunities to honor your colleagues for their outstanding accomplishments in bringing toxicology to the public space; you are encouraged to submit your nominations by October 9.

Please note that to ensure a diversity of nominees, there is a two-year grace period for national SOT Awards. Preference will be given to nominees who have not received one of the following SOT awards in the past two years: Achievement, Arnold J. Lehman, Distinguished Toxicology Scholar, Education, Enhancement of Animal Welfare, Founders, Leading Edge in Basic Science, Merit, Public Communications, Toxicologist Mentoring, Translational Impact, Translational/Bridging Travel, and Undergraduate Educator Awards.