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For her leadership in computational toxicology and her contributions to new approach methodologies (NAMs) that are transforming chemical safety assessment, Katie Paul Friedman, PhD, has received the 2026 SOT Achievement Award. 

Dr. Paul Friedman earned her BS in biochemistry from Virginia Tech and her PhD in toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her graduate research focused on triclosan’s disruption of thyroid hormone homeostasis. She completed postdoctoral training at The Hamner Institutes and then at the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development (US EPA ORD), developing high-throughput in vitro methods for endocrine disruption, including an assay for thyroperoxidase inhibition. She subsequently served as a regulatory toxicologist at Bayer CropScience, where she furthered her understanding of regulatory needs and the science of what is possible with NAMs in product testing and registration. In 2016, she returned to US EPA Office of Research and Development as a computational toxicologist and served as Branch Chief in the Computational Toxicology and Bioinformatics Branch and then as a Division Director within the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure. Dr. Paul Friedman is now Director for the Center for Chemical Informatics and Screening within UL Research Institutes’ Chemical Insights. 

Throughout her career, Dr. Paul Friedman has led influential efforts to develop, apply, and build confidence in NAMs for regulatory decision-making. At the US EPA, she played a central role in the ToxCast program, guiding targeted high-throughput screening initiatives and overseeing curation and analysis pipelines that have made complex in vitro data broadly accessible to regulators and researchers. She has been the lead investigator for the Toxicity Reference Database (ToxRefDB) and analyses of the variability in in vivo study data, which has supported multiple efforts to benchmark NAM performance. Her research has advanced endocrine and developmental neurotoxicity testing through the design and interpretation of in vitro assays, including thyroid-relevant and steroidogenesis bioactivity assays and a suite of methods for developmental neurotoxicity evaluation. Her work demonstrating the utility of in vitro bioactivity as a protective point of departure has helped define how bioactivity-based information can be incorporated into human health risk assessment and chemical prioritization in the United States, Canada, and Europe. 

In addition to her scientific contributions, Dr. Paul Friedman has been a key leader in science regulation. She previously led the TSCA New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program, an initiative that organized researchers and regulators to modernize new chemical evaluations with improved exposure, bioactivity, and toxicokinetic approaches. She served as a visible technical leader in multiple high-profile US and international efforts, including presentations to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel and participation in the consortium Accelerating the Pace of Chemical Risk Assessment, as well as guidance development for endocrine- and NAM-based assessments. Her productivity in federal and industry roles is reflected in more than 75 peer-reviewed publications and numerous US EPA ORD scientific honors, including gold, silver, and bronze medals; Level I, II, and III Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards; and multiple Impact Awards, as well as SOT recognition such as the Exposure Specialty Section Paper of the Year and Risk Assessment Specialty Section awards. 

Dr. Paul Friedman is also deeply committed to mentoring the toxicology community. She has directly mentored 18 trainees at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels, many of whom have continued into influential roles in federal agencies and the private sector. Within SOT, she has held numerous leadership and committee roles, including North Carolina Regional Chapter Student Representative, In Vitro and Alternative Methods Specialty Section Postdoctoral Representative and later Councilor, Postdoctoral Assembly Board Councilor, and member of the Faculty United for Toxicology Undergraduate Recruitment and Education (FUTURE) Committee, as well as active involvement across multiple Specialty Sections and Special Interest Groups. 

Through her innovative research, vision on addressing regulatory needs with NAMs, and dedication to training the next generation, Dr. Paul Friedman exemplifies the scientific excellence and service recognized by the SOT Achievement Award.