Reston, Va.; December 17, 2020—The Society is pleased to announce and recognize the 2021 SOT Award recipients for their many accomplishments and their commitment to the field of toxicology. The 2021 awardees represent outstanding researchers in academia, industry, and government across the globe and career stages. The work of these awardees has improved human, animal, and environmental health and addresses diverse areas, such as environmental health disparities of underserved populations, toxicokinetics of xenobiotics, and reducing animal use in toxicity testing.
“This year—more than any year in the immediate past—has illustrated the importance of scientists working to advance public health. The SOT Award recipients represent those at the forefront of basic, translational, and cutting-edge research aimed at benefiting public health,” says George P. Daston, PhD, 2020–2021 SOT President. “The SOT Awards also honor individuals who are training the next generation of scientists and the field’s most promising postdoctoral and student researchers.”
SOT also is proud to welcome two new Honorary members in 2021:
• Thomas A. Burke, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
• Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
The 2021 SOT Award recipients and new Honorary members will be honored during the Society’s Virtual 2021 Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 12–26, 2021.
SOT AWARDS*
*conferred by the SOT Awards Committee
SOT Achievement Award
• Andrew D. Patterson, PhD, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
SOT Arnold J. Lehman Award
• Calvin C. Willhite, PhD, Risk Sciences International and McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, Ottawa, ON, Canada
SOT Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award
• Deborah Cory-Slechta, PhD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award Lecture:
Thursday, March 18, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
SOT Education Award
• Wei Zheng, PhD, ATS, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
SOT Enhancement of Animal Welfare Award
• Barbara A. Wetmore, PhD, US EPA Office of Research and Development, Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure, Research Triangle Park, NC
SOT Founders Award (for Outstanding Leadership in Toxicology)
• Michael Gallo, PhD, ATS, DABT, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ
SOT Leading Edge in Basic Science Award
• Dana C. Dolinoy, PhD, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Leading Edge in Basic Science Award Lecture:
Tuesday, March 16, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
SOT Merit Award
• Rogene Henderson, PhD, DABT, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Merit Award Lecture:
Tuesday, March 23, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM
SOT Public Communications Award
• Johnnye Lewis, PhD, DABT, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
SOT Toxicologist Mentoring Award
• K. S. Rao, PhD, DABT, Eurofins/Advinus, Bangalore, India
SOT Translational Impact Award
• Rebecca Fry, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Translational Impact Award Lecture:
Monday, March 22, 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM
SOT Undergraduate Educator Award
• Larissa Williams, PhD, Bates College, Lewiston, ME
SUPPORTED AWARDS
Colgate-Palmolive Awards for Student Research Training in Alternative Methods
• Aditya Bhalerao, MS, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Rochester, MI
• Dakota Robarts, BS, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Colgate-Palmolive Grants for Alternative Research
• Isabel Ferreira, MSc, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
• Balaji Karthick Subramanian, PhD, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Colgate-Palmolive Postdoctoral Fellowship Award in In Vitro Toxicology
• Naeem Sheik Abdul, PhD, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Applied Microbial and Health Biotechnology Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Syngenta Fellowship Award in Human Health Applications of New Technologies
• Osman Sharifi, MS, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
ADDITIONAL AWARDS
Toxicological Sciences Paper of the Year Award
• Barbara Borowa-Mazgaj, Aline de Conti, Volodymyr Tryndyak, Colleen R. Steward, Leandro Jimenez, Stepan Melnyk, Mulugeta Seneshaw, Faridodin Mirshahi, Ivan Rusyn, Frederick A. Beland, Arun J. Sanyal, and Igor P. Pogribny. 2019. “Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Alterations in the Glycine N-Methyltransferase Gene in Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease–Associated Carcinogenesis.” Toxicological Sciences 170, no. 2 (August): 273–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfz110.
SOT Best Postdoctoral Publication Awards
• Suzanne N. Martos, PhD, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC
Paper Citation: Martos, Suzanne N., Michelle R. Campbell, Oswaldo A. Lozoya, Xuting Wang, Brian D. Bennett, Isabel J.B. Thompson, Ma Wan, Gary S. Pittman, and Douglas A. Bell. 2020. “Single-Cell Analyses Identify Dysfunctional CD16+ CD8 T Cells in Smokers.” Cell Reports Medicine 1, no. 4 (July). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100054.
• Johanna Nyffeler, PhD, US EPA, Durham, NC
Paper Citation: Nyffeler, Johanna, Clinton Willis, Ryan Lougee, Ann Richard, Katie Paul-Friedman, and Joshua A. Harrill. 2020. “Bioactivity Screening of Environmental Chemicals Using Imaging-Based High-Throughput Phenotypic Profiling.” Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 389 (January). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2019.114876.
• Edward Alain B. Pajarillo, PhD, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL
Paper Citation: Pajarillo, Edward, Asha Rizor, Deok-Soo Son, Michael Aschner, and Eunsook Lee. 2020. “The Transcription Factor REST Up-Regulates Tyrosine Hydroxylase and Antiapoptotic Genes and Protects Dopaminergic Neurons against Manganese Toxicity.” Journal of Biological Chemistry 295 (March): 3040–54. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA119.011446.
SOT Perry J. Gehring Diversity Student Travel Award
• Alexandra E. Svetlik, King University, Bristol, TN
SOT Undergraduate Research Awards
• Khunsha Ahmed, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Tanvi Banota, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ
• Nicholas Ian Cemalovic, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Jenny Chen, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Katelyn Clough, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY
• Kathy Marie De La Torre, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
• David T. Han, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
• Madeline Hlobik, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• Matthew Wolfgang Jaeschke, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
• Anusha LakshmiDharmavathi-KV Kotapalli, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Bailey E. West, University of Maine, Orono, ME
More information on the 2021 Award recipients is available on the SOT website.
For more information on a particular SOT Award or award recipient, please contact Michelle Werts, SOT Communications Director, at 703.438.3115 ext. 1640 or michelle@toxicology.org.
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About SOT Awards and Honors
The Society of Toxicology (SOT) Awards program recognizes distinguished toxicologists and students each year based on merit. In 1962, the Society inducted its first Honorary members, establishing its honors program. In 1965, the SOT Awards program was created with the establishment of two awards, the SOT Merit Award and the SOT Achievement Award, to support “the furtherance of the science of toxicology.” Today, the Society presents more than 20 awards that recognize achievement, facilitate travel for senior and budding scientists, and further toxicological research. Hashtag: #SOTAwards
About SOT
Founded in 1961, the Society of Toxicology (SOT) is a professional and scholarly organization of more than 8,000 scientists from academic institutions, government, and industry representing the great variety of individuals who practice toxicology. SOT is committed to creating a safer and healthier world by advancing the science and increasing the impact of toxicology. The Society promotes the acquisition and utilization of knowledge in toxicology, aids in the protection of public health, and has a strong commitment to education in toxicology and to the recruitment of students and new members into the profession. SOT values diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in all their forms and promotes them as part of all Society activities. For more information about SOT, visit the Society’s website or like/follow SOT on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.