This award recognizes an SOT member who has made distinguished contributions to toxicology throughout an entire career in areas such as research, teaching, regulatory activities, consulting, and service to the Society.
Lois D. Lehman-McKeeman, PhD, has been awarded the 2023 SOT Merit Award in recognition of her distinguished career in private industry focusing on research in toxicology and drug metabolism, including mechanisms of toxicity and carcinogenicity of xenobiotics. As part of this award, Dr. Lehman-McKeeman will deliver the Merit Award Lecture on Monday, March 20, 12:30 pm–1:30 pm during the 2023 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo.
In 1986, Dr. Lehman-McKeeman received her PhD in toxicology from the University of Kansas Medical Center. From there, she began her career at Procter & Gamble as a Research Scientist with increasing responsibilities for mechanistic research in biochemical toxicology and xenobiotic metabolism. In 2001, she joined Bristol Myers Squibb in discovery toxicology, and she is currently Vice President of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, overseeing a multidisciplinary department whose research supports drug candidate selection for clinical progression.
Dr. Lehman-McKeeman is most recognized for research that identified the mode of action by which certain chemicals induced kidney tumors in male rats. Her work demonstrated the reversible binding of d-limonene-epoxide, a metabolite of d-limonene, to the male rat specific protein α2u-globulin (α2u). Her team derived the x-ray crystal structure of α2u and determined how the protein complex accumulated in proximal tubules of male rats exposed to d-limonene. Dr. Lehman-McKeeman’s research on this pathway provided seminal data to inform and support risk assessments that humans who do not synthesize α2u are not at risk of kidney cancer if exposed to chemicals that induce α2u nephropathy. This research has been published in several reviews and applied by regulatory agencies to develop criteria to confirm the lack of relevance for human cancer risk. This research represents one of the first examples by which lack of human relevance was established for rodent carcinogens. Although α2u nephropathy is a major example, Dr. Lehman-McKeeman’s career has focused on defining mechanisms of toxicity and carcinogenesis, and her research teams have made important contributions to environmental chemical and pharmaceutical risk assessments.
Dr. Lehman-McKeeman’s bibliography over a 35-year career includes 20 book chapters in prominent toxicology reference books regarding various molecular mechanisms underlying disease outcomes or drug disposition; more than 100 full-length manuscripts; and 77 invited presentations (international and national and from across academia, government, and private industry).
Dr. Lehman-McKeeman has been appointed to external advisory committees for the US Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the American Water Works Association Research Foundation. She also has served in Adjunct Associate Professor roles, and she has mentored students and postdoctoral scholars throughout her career. She is recognized as a role model and mentor to colleagues and staff through leadership roles in her work and within SOT, including supporting education initiatives and the career development of toxicologists at all levels.
Dr. Lehman-McKeeman has a long history of elected service to SOT, beginning in 2000 as an SOT Councilor and culminating as SOT President 2013–2014. She currently serves on the SOT Nominating Committee. She previously received the SOT Achievement Award, the Career Achievement Award from the SOT Mechanisms Specialty Section, and the SOT Founders Award (for Outstanding Leadership in Toxicology). She also is an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow.
Possibly, her most significant contributions to SOT were during her tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Toxicological Sciences (2002–2011). Her vision for the journal was to be the premiere toxicology journal with goals of improving its impact factor and the number of articles published. Dr. Lehman-McKeeman was successful in achieving these goals and is credited for improving the ranking of the Society’s journal from an impact factor of 3.26 to 5.18 by the end of her term.
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