Toxicology Track

Weekly Newsletter of the MSU Center for Integrative Toxicology
Director: Dr. Norbert Kaminski / Editor: Lauren St.John

August 24, 2009, Vol. 32, Number 32

Seminars / Notables / Workshops / Courses / Fellowships / Job Postings

 

Seminars

Tuesday, September 8
The Epidemiology Seminar Series presents Janet Osuch, MD, MS, College of Human Medicine, MSU, to speak on “In-utero Exposure to DDE and Adult Female Weight and BMI in the Michigan Fisheaters’ Cohort” on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 12 noon in the Capitol View Building, 1st floor, Manty Conference Room A.

 

Notables

EITS graduate student Colin North successfully defended his dissertation on August 3, 2009. He has accepted a position as Toxicologist with ExxonMobil in New Jersey starting this August.
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EITS graduate student Timothy B. Fredricks successfully defended his dissertation on August 4, 2009. He has accepted a post-doctoral position with Bayer CropScience in Stilwell, Kansas as an Avian Toxicologist.

 

Workshops

The 2009-2010 Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) series workshop dates are:

9/10/09
Investing in Responsibility & Integrity for a Productive Career
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

10/5/09
Responsible Decision-making in Academic Research: Ethical & Moral Perspectives
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

10/27/09
Maintaining a Productive & Responsive Environment for Conducting Graduate Research
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

1/13/10
Personal Responsibility in Conducting Graduate Research & Advancing Your Career
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

1/26/10 (Animals) and/or 1/28/10 (Humans)
Responsibility to the Subjects of Research
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

2/16/10
Objectivity & Conflicting Interests in Academic Research
Room 103 (Kiva) Erickson Hall
6:00 – 8:00 PM

Registration is necessary for all sessions.  You may register for the entire series (recommended) or for an individual session.  The deadline for registering for a session is one week before the session.  However, due to the popularity of this series, the workshops fill up quickly and you are encouraged to register as soon as possible.  All sessions are free to MSU faculty, staff, postdocs, & students.
           
Attendance at this full series will be recognized with a certificate of completion, but attendance may be over several years. The series is intended to complement other training offered by MSU to comply with requirements for formal training before working on research funded by the Public Health Service, the National Science Foundation, and others. The workshops will be expanded and adapted as appropriate from one year to the next to respond to current issues and needs.

More information can be found at http://grad.msu.edu/rcr/.

 

Courses

Groundwater Modeling, CE 822 / ENE 822, Fall 2009

Time: MW 8:30-9:50 AM (tentative)

Location: B100A, Engineering Research Complex

Instructor: Prof. Shu-Guang Li

Topics:

• Groundwater flow modeling
• Contaminant transport modeling
• Model calibration
• Spatial data analysis
• Practical numerical methods
• Probabilistic Methods/Monte Carlo Simulation

Problem-based Learning:

• Wellhead Protection
• Groundwater Use Management
• Groundwater Remediation
• Protection of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems

Field Trips:

• Zephyr groundwater contamination site (under active remediation), Muskegon, MI
• Groundwater-Dependent Fens/Ecosystems,  The Nature Conservancy

Guest Lectures:

• Remediation Consultants
• DEQ Managers
• Scientists from (TNC) - The Nature Conservancy

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Computational Systems Biology and Dose Response Modeling Short Course
PHM 980-1, Section 301, 1 credit (fulfills the EITS Topics in Toxicology requirement)

Date: October 7-9, 2009 (all day Oct. 7 and 8, half day on Oct. 9)

Location: Food Safety and Toxicology Building, room 164

Instructors: Qiang Zhang, Sudin Bhattacharya, and Melvin E. Andersen, Division of Computational Biology, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences; and Rory Conolly US Environmental Protection Agency.

Course Description: In this short course, you will learn:

• Current computational modeling techniques for the quantitative investigation of how biological systems respond to perturbations at the cellular level.

• Common themes in signal transduction and gene regulatory networks that underlie systems-level cellular behaviors including homeostasis, adaptation, threshold response, binary cell fate decisions, and irreversible differentiation.

• How molecular circuits comprising genes and proteins give rise to different dose response behaviors.

• To use these techniques to develop computational models for understanding and predicting dose response behaviors of drugs and environmental agents.

The course comprises lectures and hand-on computer simulation exercises. Students will be required to bring a PC laptop computer each day to the course as there will be sample data sets for them to model.

Please visit http://www.thehamner.org/education-and-training/drm_workshop.html for a full description of a one-week version of this course. Contact Dr. Norbert Kaminski, kamins11@msu.edu, with questions.

Please contact Diane Hummel, hummeld@msu.edu, in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology for course registration/override.

 

Fellowships

Department of Homeland Security Honors Fellowship

Would you like to be a part of an exceptional team of bright professionals who are dedicated to protecting our nation?  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking to hire a handful of students from the nation’s best graduate programs.  Those selected to join the department will have a unique opportunity to put their academic achievements, intellect and professional experience to use during a critical time in American history.  As honors fellows, you will provide direct assistance to top policymakers throughout the department.  Fellows will work side-by-side with professionals with expertise in areas such as Policy Development, Strategic Planning, Private Sector Policy, International Affairs, Bioterrorism, Science and Technology, Immigration Policy, Law Enforcement, Cargo and Maritime Policy, Emergency Preparedness, Customs Enforcement, Financial Investment/Trade, and Intelligence and Analysis.

We seek applicants who have keen analytical skills, a demonstrated ability to write well, and the judgment and discretion needed to operate in a vibrant, highly visible, and challenging environment.  Those exceptional candidates who are selected as honors fellows will serve for two years.  Upon completing the fellowship, you will have the opportunity to convert to a permanent position at DHS.  

How do I apply?  Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to The Graduate School at gradschool@grd.msu.edu by November 20, 2009.  DHS will work with The Graduate School to schedule an on-campus informational session and interviews.  You will be required to go through multiple rounds of interviews with departmental officials on your college campus and at DHS headquarters.  If selected, we will present you with an offer letter to join the department.  Some key requirements that must be met are U.S. citizenship, background investigation, and master’s degree or higher.

 

Job Postings

Post-doctoral position at the NIH related to drug-induced liver disease: Spring 2010.

A postdoctoral position will be available for research training to study the role of cytokines and other factors in regulating susceptibility of patients to drug-induced liver diseases (DILD) that are mediated by toxic metabolites and cells of the innate and adaptive immune systems.  Molecular and cellular biology, toxicology, and immunology as well as genomic, proteomic, bioinformatic, and systems biology methods and animal model techniques are used to discover risk factors and elucidate their molecular and cellular signaling pathways that either promote or control the incidence and severity of DILD.  Our long-term goals are to translate our findings into new approaches for identifying patients who are susceptible to DILD and designing safer drugs and treatments for DILD.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. or M.D. with less than five years of postdoctoral experience, and a strong background in toxicology, drug metabolism, and/or immunology.  Send C.V. and list of three references to Lance R. Pohl, Pharm.D. Ph.D., Chief, Molecular and Cellular Toxicology Section, NHLBI/NIH; E-Mail: pohll@nih.gov.

For more information please visit: http://dir.nhlbi.nih.gov/labs/lmi/mct/.   

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Post-doctoral position in the societal aspects of environmental effects of nanomaterials: Environmental Risk Perception. University of California, Santa Barbara.

A multidisciplinary team of social scientists is seeking a postdoctoral-level researcher to study the societal aspects of emerging effects of nanomaterials (NMs) in the environment, with a particular focus on US public and expert risk perception and comparative risk analysis.  The specific project opportunities include: survey research on US public perceptions of nanotech environmental risk; comparative analysis of other technological and environmental risk controversies; social amplification and attenuation of risk; constructed preference and decision pathways; vulnerability, gender, race and risk perception; mental modeling and risk communication.

Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in a relevant social, behavioral, or environmental studies field, including Ph.D’s from interdisciplinary environmental studies programs as well as those offered through sociology, anthropology, geography, communications, social psychology, political science, and/or law. The applicant must have demonstrated experience in related research, and a record of communicating research results. Quantitative data analysis expertise required; mixed quantitative/qualitative methods research background highly desirable.

The position will be available starting October 1, 2009 or later and is full time with a beginning salary of $42,000-$46,000 (plus health benefits) depending on experience.  Applications should have completed the PhD no more than 6 years prior, although exceptions can be made where a hiatus from academic work can be explained. The initial appointment is for 1-year on this multiyear project; continuation beyond 1 year will be based on performance and funding. 

Applicants should submit a CV, a statement of research interests, and the names of three referees to imelda@icess.ucsb.edu.  Initial review of applications will begin on 1 September 2009, however the position will remain open until filled. The department is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service.

 

This newsletter is produced and distributed weekly by the Center for Integrative Toxicology. To be added to the e-mail list or to make suggestions regarding information that might be included in this publication, contact: Lauren St.John, Editor, Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, 165C Food Safety and Toxicology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824; lstjohn@msu.edu; 517/432-2435(phone), 517/355-4603(fax).