The Society presented a number of awards to distinguished toxicologists for their work to advance the science of toxicology during a formal Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening. The following are some of the award recipients and their awards:
William Alfred Suk, PhD, MPH: Dr. William Suk was awarded the 2013 Founders Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership in fostering the role of toxicological sciences in safety decision-making through the development and/or application of state-of-the-art approaches that elucidate, with a high degree of confidence, the distinctions for humans between safe and unsafe levels of exposures to chemical and physical agents. Awardees must be a Full, Emeritus or Retired Full member of the Society of Toxicology. Dr. Suk has served as director of the Superfund Hazardous Substances Basic Research and Training Program since its inception. He is also director of the Center for Risk and Integrated Sciences (CRIS) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). His affiliation with a number of organizations and committees include: Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine, Instittue of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences; International Advisory Board of the Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok, Thailand; and World Health Organization Consultation on Scientific Principles and Methodologies for Assessing Health Risks in Children Associated with Chemical Exposures.
Donald E. Ingber, MD, PhD: Dr. Ingber is the recipient of the 2013 Leading Edge in Basic Science Award for a scientist who, based on his/her research, has made a recent (within the last 5 years), seminal scientific contribution/advance to understanding fundamental mechanisms of toxicity. The recipient should be a respected basic scientist whose research findings are likely to have a pervasive impact on the field of toxicology. Dr. Ingber is the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University; the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital; and Professor of bioengineering at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is the founder of the emerging field of biologically inspired engineering, and at the Wyss Institute, he oversees a multifaceted effort to identify the mechanisms that living organisms use to self-assemble and to apply these design principles to develop advanced materials and devices. He also leads the Biomimetic Microsystems platform in which microfabrication techniques from the computer industry are used to build functional circuits with living cells as components. These "organs on chips," which mimic complicated human functions are designed to replace traditional animal-based methods for testing of drugs and toxins.
Frederick Peter Guengerich, PhD: Dr. Guengerich is the 2013 recipient of the SOT Merit Award in recognition of his distinguished contributions to toxicology throughout an entire career in areas such as research, teaching, regulatory activities, consulting, and service to the Society. Dr. Guengerich is a Stanford professor of biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. He was director of the Center in Moleculra Toxicology from 1980-2011 at Vanderbilt University and also served as interium chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 2010-2012. His major areas of research interest include the metabolism of carcinogens and drugs by cytochrome P450 enzymes, the bioactivation of halogenated hydrocarbons, and polymerase interactions with carcinogen-modified DNA. His research has led to a range of awards and honors, including the Society of Toxicology Achievement Award; Burroughs Wellcome Scholar in Toxicology Award; Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeuctics; the President's Distinguished Service Award, American College of Toxicology; American Association for Cancer Research Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research; R.T. Williams Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Interantional Society of Xenobiotics; and the Founders' Award, American Chemical Socieety, Division of Chemical Toxicology.