Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The director of Mississippi State's Center for Environmental Health Sciences is being appointed to a major advisory position with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Janice E. "Jan" Chambers, a William L. Giles Distinguished Professor at the university, is the new vice chair of the federal agency's Human Studies Review Board, a congressionally mandated committee reviewing scientific and ethical research of human subjects.
The Center for Environmental Health Sciences she leads is a unit of MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"The advice of this board has a tremendous impact of the use of human data by the EPA in its risk assessments and its pesticide regulatory decisions," Chambers said.
"This board's evaluations of the scientific validity and ethics of studies on the exposure of humans to pesticides are used by EPA in its risk assessments," the 18-year CVM pesticide toxicology researcher explained.
Chambers brings extensive experience to her new role. In addition to authoring more than 80 publications and 230 scientific abstracts, she has led in securing more than $30 million in competitive research grants. She also has a long history of service on federal advisory committees related to pesticide data.
Chambers said the review board's opinions can have a substantial impact on EPA policy decisions.
"The board is only in its fourth year, and as vice chair, I will be able to help guide discussion toward rational evaluations and assist in making these responses both understandable and useful," she said.
An MSU doctoral graduate who taught in the biological sciences department before moving to the veterinary college, Chambers is credited with gaining College Board approval in 2000 of a new doctoral program in environmental toxicology, the only one of its kind in the state.
Earlier this year, she became the first woman to receive the international Society of Toxicology's Education Award. In 2005, she became the first and only woman to receive the American Chemical Society/Agrochemical Division's International Award for Research.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. Chambers at 662-325-1255 or chambers@cvm.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.