Environmental Toxicology - MS, PhD

The Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine in the Department of Medicine provides training in environmental toxicology, culminating with the award of the degree of Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Toxicology. This Graduate Program in Environmental Toxicology provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary and appropriate to teach and/or conduct research (both basic & applied) related to inhalation/pulmonary toxicology, chemical pathology, environmental carcinogenesis, biochemical neurotoxicology, radiation toxicology, toxicokinetics, bioremediation, and risk assessment. Toxicology involves the scientific study of the entry, distribution, biotransformation, and mechanism of action of chemical agents harmful to the body. The Program interprets environmental toxicology as the study of the effects and mechanisms of action of hazardous chemicals in food, air, water, and soil, in the home, workplace, and the community, and considers experimentally and theoretically such diverse research problems as (1) toxicological evaluation of environmental chemicals such as air and water pollutants, food additives, industrial wastes, and agricultural adjuvants at the molecular, cellular and organism levels; (2) mechanisms of action in chemical carcinogenesis and mutagenesis; (3) the molecular pathology of tissue injury in acute toxicity; and (4) scientific principles involved in extrapolating from laboratory animal data to expected effects on human health in environmental exposures.