Nanotoxicology Lead Campus Associate Director Curt Eckhert

Curt Eckhert, the Associate Director for the Nanotoxicology Lead Campus Program based at UC Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara, provided an overview of the new program at the 2007 Symposium. The nanotoxicology program is focusing efforts on potential threats to human and ecosystem health. The faculty involved range in disciplines from chemical engineering, toxicology and pathology to molecular genetics, microbiology, and environmental health sciences. The program has a research component and trains graduate students in basic toxicology and nanomaterials, cellular interactions and risk assessment. The first class began in January 2007 and the courses are available by telecast to any UC campus. A major effort of the program is to determine how to test nanomaterials by developing screening tools that are acceptable to government agencies and industry. The researchers are working on developing a database of the nanomaterials in use and risk analyses of these materials. The program has corporate sponsors in IBM, BASF, and the Chemical Institute for Industrial Toxicology and they are working on getting more participation from international and small startup companies.

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