The University of Iowa Biosciences Program

Biosciences Program Faculty performing Human Toxicology research

The broad scope of toxicology, from the study of fundamental mechanisms to the assessment of exposure, is best studied in an interdisciplinary setting. The field draws on expertise from chemistry, physiology, pathology, genetics, statistics, and risk assessment sciences.

Duties of a toxicologist include the identification and assessment of environmental exposures of concern; elucidation of mechanisms by which toxicants (chemical, biological, or radiological agents) perturb homeostasis or induce disease; identification of interventions for the prevention of adverse effects; and estimation of acceptable levels of exposure for the protection of public health.

To perform this wide variety of tasks, a toxicologist must receive training in multiple key areas. The University of Iowa excels in many of these key areas, both in training and in research, and therefore, well-positioned to train toxicologists at the PhD level.

Name	Rank	Department/ Program	Research Description
Buettner, Garry, PhD	Professor	Radiation Oncology Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology	See research interests
Carter, Brent, MD	Associate Professor	Internal Medicine Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology	Regulation of inflammatory responses that occur in the lung in models of acute lung injury and asbestos-induced lung disease
Domann, Frederick, PhD	Professor	Radiation Oncology Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology Molecular & Cellular Biology	DNA methylation and oncogenes, Ras and Cancer, Redox regulation of AP-2
Doorn, Jonathan, PhD	Assistant Professor	Medicinal & Natural Products Chemistry Human Toxicology	Protein modification by a reactive intermediate of dopamine metabolism: implications for toxicity and neurodegenerative disease
Duffel, Michael, PhD	Professor (Associate Dean)	Medicinal & Natural Products Chemistry Human Toxicology	Biochemistry of enzymes involved in mammalian conversion of drugs to reactive metabolites that mediate toxic and therapeutic effects
Field, R. William, PhD	Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Epidemiology Human Toxicology	Environmental epidemiology, Occupational epidemiology, Cancer epidemiology
Fuortes, Laurence, MD	Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Human Toxicology	Occupational and environmental toxicology, pneumoconioses, neurotoxicity, and asthma
Gerr, Frederic, MD	Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Human Toxicology	Occupational neurotoxicity, Clinical and epidemiological investigation of heavy metal toxicity
Goswami, Prabhat, PhD	Associate Professor	Radiation Oncology Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology Molecular & Cellular Biology	Intracellular Redox Environment and the Mammalian Cell Cycle
Hornbuckle, Keri, PhD	Professor (Chair)	Civil & Environmental Engineering Human Toxicology	Modeling and measuring the deposition of organic compounds to lakes, Uptake of airborne chemicals by leaves and needles, Long range transport of pollutants, Behavior of SOCs at terrestrial and aquatic interfaces
Kline, Joel, MD	Professor	Internal Medicine Occupational and Environmental Health Human Toxicology Immunology	Study of the modulation of airway inflammatory responses in asthma
Ludewig, Gabriele, PhD	Associate Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Human Toxicology	Environmental Toxicology, Genetic Toxicology
McCray, Paul, MD	Professor	Pediatrics Microbiology Genetics Human Toxicology	Gene Therapy for Genetic Diseases; Pathogenesis and Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis; Identification and Characterization of Host Defense Peptides and Proteins
Murhammer, David, PhD	Professor	Chemical & Biochemical Engineering Human Toxicology	Viral Insecticide Production; Oxidative Stress
Robertson, Larry, PhD	Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology	Mechanism(s) of toxicity of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons
Schnoor, Jerald, PhD	Professor (Chair)	Civil & Environmental Engineering Human Toxicology	Phytoremediation, Water quality modeling, Groundwater, Risk assessments, Sustainable development, Impact of carbon emissions on global change
Spitz, Douglas, PhD	Professor	Radiation Oncology Free Radical & Radiation Biology Human Toxicology	Redox regulation of signal transduction and gene expression, oxidative stress responses, mitochondrial free radical production, and aging.
Thorne, Peter, PhD	Professor	Occupational & Environmental Health Civil & Environmental Engineering Human Toxicology	Environmental risk factors for childhood asthma, inflammatory lung diseases, endotoxin and glucan-induced immunomodulation, molecular biology-based bioaerosol exposure assessment methodology, and exposure assessment for environmental cancer.
Weiss, David, PhD	Associate Professor	Microbiology Genetics	Cell division and protein localization in bacteria
Wurster, Dale, PhD	Professor (Associate Dean)	Pharmaceutics Human Toxicology	Physics of tablet compression, adsorption and desorption thermodynamics, solution calorimetry, analytical applications of FT-IR, surface characterization by XPS, and micellar catalysis