image: David Eastmond is a professor of cell biology and the chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at UC Riverside. view more
Credit: Eastmond lab, UC Riverside
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Toxicologist David Eastmond at the University of California, Riverside has been elected a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, an organization of international scholars who work towards solutions of occupational and environmental health problems around the world.
Founded as an independent, international academy in 1982 and headquartered in Carpi, Italy, the Collegium Ramazzini is comprised of a select group of no more than 180 fellows from about 40 different countries, each fellow being distinguished by his or her contributions to occupation and environmental health.
"I am very pleased and honored to be selected as a fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini, and look forward to working with this esteemed group," said Eastmond, the chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience.
The Collegium Ramazzini assesses present and future risks of injury and disease attributable to the workplace and the environment, and focuses on the identification of preventable risk factors. It transmits its views on these hazards and their prevention to policy-making bodies, authorities, agencies and the public. The Collegium Ramazzini also translates the policy implications of scientific findings to legislators, regulators and other decision makers.
Eastmond is the second faculty member at UC Riverside to be honored by the Collegium Ramazzini. In 2004, Carl Cranor, a professor of philosophy, was named a fellow of the prestigious academy.
About David Eastmond: Eastmond received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. In 1987, he was selected as an Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow and, for the following two years, conducted postdoctoral research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Shortly thereafter, Eastmond joined the faculty at UCR, where he is a professor of cell biology and neuroscience and actively involved in research and teaching in the areas of toxicology and risk assessment.
His laboratory focuses on the mechanisms involved in the toxicity and carcinogenesis of environmental chemicals. His research has centered on the metabolism and chromosome-damaging effects of benzene, a widely used industrial chemical and environmental pollutant, and ortho-phenylphenol, a commonly used fungicide and disinfectant.
Eastmond has served as the president of the Environmental Mutagen Society and as a Jefferson Science Fellow in the U.S. State Department. He has also participated on a variety of review panels related to chemical mutagenesis, carcinogenesis and risk assessment, including panels for the US Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; the International Programme for Chemical Safety; the International Agency for Research on Cancer; the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; Health Canada; and the International Working Group for Genotoxicity Testing. Currently, he serves as the chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Toxicology Program and a member of the Carcinogen Identification Committee for the California Environmental Protection Agency.
The University of California, Riverside (http://www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
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