News & Events

• The RSC is Hiring!

We have an opening for a post-doc or post-masters scientist with a background in toxicology, biology, epidemiology, or other related field to participate in our diverse projects on organic flame retardants, nanomaterials, and other industrial chemicals. There are two related postings for one open position:

Post doc:
https://career8.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=61581&company=UCPROD
Post masters
https://career8.successfactors.com/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=61568&company=UCPROD 
If you have questions about the position, feel free to contact Lynne Haber at Lynne.Haber@uc.edu

• Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting Presentations

Lynne Haber will present a poster entitled: Impact of Updated BMD Modeling Methods on Perchlorate and Chlorate Assessments of Human Health Hazard. The live (virtual) poster presentation is Monday, March 22, 1-2:45 PM Eastern, Abstract #2597, Poster-154 in the Risk Assessment session. Posters are available for viewing in the Virtual Poster Gallery March 12 - May 31. You must be registered for the annual meeting attend the live session or view posters in the virtual gallery.

• SOT FDA Colloquium 

Lynne Haber will present in the SOT FDA Colloquium on Emerging Toxicological Science: Challenges in Food and Ingredient Safety: The Toxicology of Nanoparticles. The session will be live webcast April 8, 9:00 AM–12:40 PM Eastern. Dr. Haber will be presenting on Practical Application to Regulatory Toxicology: Issues Faced in Consideration of Developing Health Guideline Values. For more information and free registration, see the colloquium website: https://www.toxicology.org/events/shm/fda/FDAColloquia-2021-Apr8.asp   

• New Publication on Perchlorate:

Haber, L.T., R.S. Schoeny, and B.C. Allen. 2021 Impact of Updated BMD Modeling Methods on Perchlorate and Chlorate Assessments of Human Health Hazard. Toxicol. Let. 340: 89-100. Available for free at https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cVG%7E1M2s0085N   This paper presents new modeling based on the primary data that takes into account the RAIU considered abnormal in the general population, as well as using Bayesian hierarchical modeling to account for repeated measures on the same individuals. 

• Update to IPCS Principles and Methods for Risk Assessment of Chemicals in Food (EHC 240)

Lynne Haber was part of the committee updating Chapter 5 (Dose-response assessment and derivation of health-based guidance values) to reflect the state of the science, particularly with regard to benchmark dose modeling. The updated chapter (as well as the rest of EHC 240) is available at https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241572408. Scroll down below the first set of active links for chapters to see the 2020 updates.

• UC’s Dr. Eula Bingham inducted to the SRA Pantheon of Risk Analysis

The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) inducted Dr. Eula Bingham to the Pantheon of Risk Analysis in December. 
The Pantheon, established in 2008, recognizes luminaries and visionaries in risk analysis and serves to illustrate how the field contributes to the advancement of knowledge and public good. Eula Bingham was a champion of setting stringent standards to protect worker health and safety. She was an Emerita professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, a toxicologist and head of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under President Jimmy Carter. During her time at the University of Cincinnati, Bingham contributed more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on occupational and environmental respiratory hazards, chemical carcinogenesis, and occupational and environmental health policy. As Director of OSHA, she revised the occupational lead exposure standard and was a pioneer of regulations on workers’ “right to know” about workplace hazards. SRA is giving this recognition posthumously, following Bingham’s death on June 13, 2020, at the age of 90.

• Future Risk Assessment and Communication Workshop
  The RSC and UC ERC, in collaboration with Cardno Chemrisk, SafeDose, and RiskPartners.ca, have been planning our next Workshop on Assessing and Communicating Risks for Toxicologists and Risk Assessors, to be held when it is again safe to travel. Interested? Email risksciencecenter@uc.edu and we will keep you posted on the latest developments.  This two-part continuing education workshop is intended for new and veteran risk assessors. Two days will be focused on risk assessment, with an emphasis on hazard and dose response assessment, and two days on risk communication. Both parts are highly interactive.
• Jacqueline Patterson of the Risk Science Center was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) at the December 2019 SRA Annual Meeting.  The SRA is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those who are interested in risk analysis. Congratulations Jacqueline!
• A Risk Science Center project was featured in a podcast by the journal Integrated Environmental Management and Assessment. Alison Pecquet discussed her recent publication on polymers in cleaning products and data gaps for environmental risk assessment. The purpose of this study was to identify, characterize, and assess data needs for ecological risk of household cleaning product polymers currently being used in the United States.  Listen Here. Pecquet, A.M., Pittinger, C.A., McAvoy, D.C. (2019). Survey of Polymers Used in Cleaning Products: Categorization, Data Availability, and Prioritization of Polymers for Ecological Risk Assessment. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 15(4):621-632.
• A recent publication describes a Risk Science Center project on a meta-regression of 55 studies (2652 subjects) to evaluate the impact of dietary cholesterol on serum LDL and HDL:  Vincent, M.J., B. Allen, O.M. Palacios, L.T. Haber, and K.C. Maki. 2019. Meta-regression analysis of the effects of dietary cholesterol intake on low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 109:7-16. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy273
• In a collaborative project with the Army Corp and Neutral Science, the RSC developed a technical report that informs product development decisions using NanoGRID by facilitating consideration of whether risk characterization is feasible for a given choice of product composition without substantial investment in analytical methods development, with the goal of clarifying risk management uncertainty for product development. L.T. Haber, A.J. Bednar, A.J. Kennedy, M.L. Ballentine, and R.A. Canady. 2019. Methods Evaluation for Assessing Release of Manufactured Nanomaterials from Polymers, Consistent with the NanoGRID Framework. Prepared for Army Corp of Engineers/ERDC. No. ERDC/EL TR-19-6
• Vincent, M.J., B. Allen, O.M. Palacios, L.T. Haber, and K.C. Maki. 2019 Meta-regression analysis of the effects of dietary cholesterol intake on low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 109:7-16. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy273. A meta-regression of 55 studies (2652 subjects) to evaluate the impact of dietary cholesterol on serum LDL and HDL.
• Frank, E., LT Haber, MB Genter, and A Maier. 2018. Defining molecular initiating events of airway sensory irritation in support of predictive testing approaches. Applied In vitro Toxicology. 4:317-331. https://doi.org/10.1089/aivt.2018.0007. Sensory irritation is an important endpoint for inhalation exposure limits, but current testing methods are inadequate for identifying sensory irritants and effect levels. This paper uses an AOP approach to identify MIEs that could be used as the basis for an in vitro assay.
• Haber, LT; ML Dourson, BC Allen, R Hertzberg, A Parker, MJ Vincent, A Maier, and AR Boobis. 2018. Benchmark Dose (BMD) Modeling: Current practice, issues and challenges. Crit Rev. Toxicol. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408444.2018.1430121 8:1-29. Methods for modeling are reviewed, together with key disagreements between EPA and EFSA guidance, including examples of the practical implications of the areas of difference. 
• Felter, SP; JE Foreman, A Boobis, JC Corton, AM Doi, L Flowers, J Goodman, LT Haber, A Jacobs, JE Klaunig, A Lynch, J Moggs, A Pandiri. 2018. Human Relevance of Rodent Liver Tumors: Key Insights from a Toxicology Forum Workshop on Nongenotoxic Modes of Action. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 92:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2017.11.003. The state of the science was reviewed regarding two nuclear receptor-mediated MOAs (Constitutive Androstane Receptor (CAR) and Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-alpha (PPARα), and cytotoxicity. 
• Haber, L.T., H.K. Bates, B.C. Allen, M.J. Vincent, and A.R. Oller. 2017. Derivation of an oral toxicity reference value for nickel. Regul. Toxicol Pharmacol. 87 Suppl 1:S1-S18. doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2017.03.011. This paper derives toxicity reference values (TRVs) for three populations of interest: adults, toddlers, and people who have been dermally sensitized to nickel.
• Dr Brian Palmer has joined the Risk Science Center as a post-doctoral fellow.Dr. Palmer earned his PhD in toxicology from the University of Rochester where he researched the dermal toxicity of engineered nanomaterials (e.g. carbon nanotubes, silica nanoparticles, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles) in a mouse model of allergic contact dermatitis. He can be reached at brian.palmer@uc.edu.

• The International Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER) database is now available at http://iter.tera.org/index.htm