man in lab

Environmental Pathology/Toxicology Training Program

Welcome to the Environmental Pathology/Toxicology Training Program (EP/T).  We are an interdisciplinary NIEHS training program with faculty from three departments in the University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Our mission is to prepare today's newest scientists to respond to tomorrow's environmental health research needs.

As an EP/T trainee, you will:

  • Pursue a PhD  in one of our three participating departments.
  • Pursue postdoctoral training with one of our participating faculty.
  • Enhance your training with courses in environmental health issues, risk assessment, translational research or molecular population genetics.
  • Network with participating UW faculty, trainee-invited guest speakers and senior EP/T trainees.
  • Present your research at UW EP/T seminars and national meetings.
  • Join former EP/T trainees pursuing environmental health research across the US.

Consider joining us!

Contact us at epttg@uw.edu for more information.

EP/T is funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) training grant T32 ES007032. We are strongly committed to increasing the participation of underrepresented individuals in the biomedical sciences.

About

The University of Washington Environmental Pathology/Toxicology Training Program (EP/T) is an interdisciplinary program that includes faculty from three departments in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health. These departments are:

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has provided continuous funding for our program since 1978. The EPT program includes virtually all NIEHS-supported investigators at UW. It is closely linked with NIEHS-supported centers at UW focused on ecogenetics, toxicogenomics and risk assessment, among others, and is highly integrated with a wide array of well-funded, complementary research centers and projects.

Pre- and postdoctoral trainees are actively involved in research on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of toxicity and toxic injury. Our goals are to train independent research scientists who are thoroughly conversant with morphologic and mechanistic aspects of environmental pathology and toxicology, with an added emphasis on genome sciences and new opportunities for training and participating in translational and clinical research. Trainees will have an appreciation for how this information can be used as the scientific basis for risk assessment.

Applying for a Traineeship

To apply for a traineeship* with our program please email us at epttg@uw.edu a completed EP/T Application Form, all collegiate institution transcripts, three recommendation letters, a Project Summary, and a Project Proposal.

Detailed instructions for recommendation letters, the project summary and the project proposal can be found in the EP/T Application Form.

Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Positions
  • There are no available positions for the current funding year (July 1, 2023– June 16, 2024). We will announce open slots and application deadlines for the next funding year (July 1, 2024– June 16, 2025) sometime in spring 2024. 
Postdoctoral Fellowship Positions
  • There are no available positions for the current funding year (July 1, 2023– June 16, 2024). We will announce open slots and application deadlines for the next funding year (July 1, 2024– June 16, 2025) sometime in spring 2024. 

*Note: EP/T trainees must be US citizens or permanent residents.

Trainee Requirements & Courses

Requirements for Predoctoral Trainees

  • Predoctoral trainees must take at least one quarter of graduate level toxicology with ENVH 515.
  • It is also required of all trainees to take at least one course from the following list of courses, during their time of support on the grant:
    • ENVH 509: Microbiome and Environmental Health (DEOHS/Public Health)
    • ENVH 556: Quantitative Occupational Exposure Analysis (DEOHS/Public Health)
    • ENVH/EPI 570: Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology (DEOHS & Epidemiology/Public Health)
    • ENVH 577: Risk Assessment for Environmental Health Hazards (DEOHS/Public Health)
    • GENOME 561: Molecular Population Genetics and Evolution (Genome Sciences/ Medicine) 
    • MOLMED 558: Integrative Omics ( Laboratory Medicine & Pathology/Molecular Medicine)
    • PHG/ENVH/PCEUT 513: Basic Concepts in Pharmacogenetics and Toxicogenomics (Public Health Genetics & DEOHS & Pharmaceutics/Public Health, Pharmacy)

Requirements for All Trainees

  • All trainees in the EP/T Training Program must attend the Biomedical Research Integrity Series offered each summer by the School of Medicine's Department of Bioethics and Humanities. The EP/T Program requires trainees to attend all 5 lectures in the series and 3 of the discussion groups while in the program.
  • All trainees must participate in the EP/T seminars and present progress twice per year.

Participating Departments and Faculty

Participating Departments

EP/T supports PhD training in the participating departments of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences,  Genome Sciences, and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.

Post-doctoral training is available with EP/T faculty in our participating departments as well as EP/T faculty in collaborating departments. Please reach out to EP/T staff for details.

Participating Faculty

Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Elena Austin, ScD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Marissa Baker, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Diana Ceballos, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Julia Cui, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Nicole Errett, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Elaine Faustman, PhD
EP/T Director, Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Erica Fuhrmeister, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Yijie Geng, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Catherine Karr MD, PhD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Joel Kaufman, MD, MPH
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Edward Kelly, PhD
Associate Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Johanna Lampe, PhD, RD
Research Professor, Epidemiology
Adjunct Research Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Karen Levy, PhD
Associate Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Judit Marsillach, PhD
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Scott Meschke, PhD, MS, JD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Sheela Sathyanarayana, PhD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Lianne Sheppard, PhD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Christopher Simpson, PhD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Zhengui Xia, PhD
Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Martin Darvas, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pathology

Christopher Kemp, PhD
Affiliate Professor, Pathology

Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD
Adjunct Professor, Pathology

Daniel Promislow, PhD
Professor, Pathology

Rosana Risques, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology

Laboratory Medicine and Pathology

Philip Abitua, PhD
Assistant Professor, Genome Sciences

Brian Beliveau, PhD
Assistant Professor, Genome Sciences

William Noble, PhD
Professor, Genome Sciences

Brook Nunn, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Genome Sciences

Devin Schweppe, PhD
Assistant Professor, Genome Sciences

Cole Trapnell, PhD
Assistant Professor, Genome Sciences

Bioengineering (collaborating department)

Kelly Stevens, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering 

Xiaohu Gao, PhD
Professor, Bioengineering

Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine (collaborating unit)

Anne Manicone, MD
Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Medicinal Chemistry (collaborating department)

Rheem Totah, PhD
Professor, Medicinal Chemistry

Libin Xu, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicinal Chemistry

Medical Genetics (collaborating department) 

Mary-Claire King, PhD
Professor, Genome Sciences

Pharmaceutics (collaborating department) 

Joanne Wang, PhD
Professor, Pharmaceutics 

Radiology (collaborating department) 

David Marcinek, PhD
Professor, Pharmaceutics