Toxicology

Hannah DyeMS Thesis, Environmental Health SciencesHometownThousand Oaks, CAFuture plansApplying to medical school.

More than a dozen students in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) attended the 2025 Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Orlando, Florida last month. Seven students took home awards for their work in areas ranging from e-cigarette toxicity to the gut microbiome. Learn more about their research and what inspires them below.

At the end of this month, Michael Yost will be stepping down after a 10-year term as chair of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

David Eaton, professor emeritus in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), received the 2024 Merit Award from the Society of Toxicology (SOT).

Abbie GilbertMS, Environmental Health SciencesHometownWarrensburg, MOFuture plansPursuing a PhD in DEOHS focusing on infants’ exposure to heavy metals.

For University of Washington School of Public Health alum Rachel Shaffer (MPH, ’18, PhD, ’20), the notion of public health has always been present.

2023 has been a year of community resilience for the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS). Together with many partners, our students, faculty and staff spearheaded projects to help Pacific Northwest communities respond and adapt to extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke and other impacts of climate change.

Could studying how zebrafish swim help uncover a cure for autism? Yijie Geng thinks so.

Thomas BurbacherProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health SciencesProudest achievements:Making discoveries in toxicology and seeing how research is used for public health protection, engaging with communities and teaching undergraduatesJoined DEOHS faculty:1991

When most people think about the causes of diabetes and obesity, they think about diet, physical activity and family history. But when Joe Lim thinks about these diseases, he thinks about environmental toxicants that are often invisible to the senses yet can have an enormous impact decades into a person’s life.

Sarah Kim recently won the prestigious Carl Smith Graduate Student Award at the 2023 meeting of the Society of Toxicology.

The Society of Toxicology recently recognized several researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), including three members of DEOHS Associate Professor Julia Yue Cui’s lab.

For her many contributions to assessing the risk of chemical hazards, Elaine Faustman has been awarded the 2023 Arnold J.

 

Last year, two treasured members of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) community passed away: Emeritus Professors Jane Koenig and Daniel Luchtel.

Evan GallagherProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health SciencesProudest achievements:Showing how biochemical pathways in fish make them susceptible to toxic chemicals, and what this means for human disease; Directing the UW Superfund Research Program; Mentoring students and postdocs.

Lucio CostaProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational HealthProudest achievements:Research he led with others on PBDEs (flame-retardant chemicals) that may act as developmental neurotoxicants, and his work on two enzymes known as paraoxonases (PON1 and PON2) that possess antioxidant properties and may protect against some health c

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) programs are ranked No. 7 in the world, according to newly released rankings from US News & World Report’s Best Global Universities.

Everetta Rasyid, a MS student in Applied Toxicology at the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), recently spoke with us about her experience in the program and her summer internship with HP.

Aaron Bentson-Royal, a MS student in Applied Environmental Toxicology at the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), recently spoke with us about his experience in the program and his internship this summer at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division.

PhD graduate Megumi Matsushita (left) with Professor Zhengui Xia. For her extraordinary

Megumi Matsushita PhD, Environmental Toxicology Hometown Otsu, Japan Future plans A career in public service as a public health scientist “My goal is to use all the knowledge and training that I have accumulated over the years to help inform public health decisions.”

 

In 2021, the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) welcomed new faculty, forged collaborations in climate and health, and continued our innovative, community-oriented environmental health research on areas including air pollution, COVID-19 and the far-reaching health impacts of wildfire smoke across Washington state. Explore our top stories below.

Register now for Linda Birnbaum's Dec. 9 talk: Dioxins vs. "Forever" Chemicals: The Politicization of Science As the nation’s top environmental health scientist from 2009 to 2019, Linda Birnbaum became known as an influential researcher in environmental exposures, toxicology and public health.

Judit Marsillach has always been drawn to research that improves people’s well-being. But a lucky choice of college roommates led her to the field of environmental health.

Terrance KavanaghProfessor, UW Department of Environmental & Occupational HealthProudest achievementMentoring more than three dozen graduate students and seeing them become accomplished scientists.Joined DEOHS faculty1989

Joe Lim, PhD student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), is one of two recipients of this year’s Russell L. Castner Endowed Student Research Fund, which supports student research in environmental health.

Read the full story in the latest edition of the UW Public Health magazine Newly updated environmental health research laboratories in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) will have a transformative impact on some of the most important work DEOH

It’s a fitting recognition of Lianne Sheppard’s dedication to research, teaching and public service that she received an endowed professorship at the UW in the same week as being tapped to chair a federal scientific committee.