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Toxicology Program

Alumni

NCSU graduate students are currently employed in academia, government and the private sector.

Alumni Spotlight

Dr. Kylie Rock

Dr. Rock graduated from NC State in 2019 with her PhD in Toxicology. Today she is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Scott Belcher at NC State University. She is studying the long-term health impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in local North Carolina Wildlife.

“As a graduate student at NC State I really benefited from the diverse networking and collaborative opportunities both on and off campus. Close proximity to NIEHS, the EPA, Duke, and UNC facilitated frequent interactions interactions with the large toxicology community within the research triangle through seminars, symposiums, and conferences. The scientific community and diversity of job opportunities in the research triangle is part of the reason that I returned to NC State as a postdoc.”

Dr. AtLee Watson

Dr. Watson graduated from NC State in 2017 with his PhD in Toxicology. Today Dr. Watson is a Toxicology Study Director at Inotiv, a contract research organization located in the Research Triangle Park, NC. In this role, he oversees the design, conduct, and reporting of GLP safety/toxicology studies for commercial products at various stages of nonclinical development. Dr. Watson is a board-certified toxicologist with the American Board of Toxicology.

“During my time at N.C. State, I was fortunate to see the Toxicology program grow in parallel with the University’s core facilities, specifically the Genomic Sciences Laboratory and the Cell and Molecular Imaging Facility. Applying the methods offered at these core facilities certainly strengthened my dissertation, but also gave me the experience and working knowledge of how these tools can be used more broadly in the toxicology field.”

Dr. Larissa Williams

Dr. Williams graduated from NC State in 2010 with her PhD in Toxicology. Today Dr. Williams is an associate Professor and the Chair of Biology at Bates College, a private, highly selective, residential undergraduate college in Lewiston, Maine. She is also an active member of the Society of Toxicology, the current chair of FUTURE, Vice President of the Northeast Society of Toxicology regional chapter, and the 2021 winner of the Undergraduate Educator Award.

“I was very appreciative of the training grant and the ability to rotate through many labs to identify a mentor with which I wanted to work for my PhD. I also loved my cohort and the ability to see them because we all worked in the same building. I loved having the ability to take electives in various parts of the university to support my dissertation work.”

Graduates of NC State’s Toxicology Program have assumed diverse and prominent roles in the toxicology/EHS community. Their collective evolution from graduate student to postdoctoral fellow/intern, to secondary positions in academia, industry or government is laudable.

  • Sarah Park (2020) will be taking a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Dentistry Department of Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics at the University of Maryland in summer of 2020. 
  • Kylie Rock (2019) is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Maryland. 
  • Marissa Kosnik (2019) is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioinformatics at Stockholm University. 
  • Mark Ihrie (2019) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Medicine at Duke University.

Other recent graduates have entered the private sector, including: 

  • Zack Messenger (2018) who joined Radeas Industries as a Staff Toxicologist. 
  • Katy Duke (2017), following an initial postdoctoral position at Roivant Sciences, became a Senior Toxicologist with ICF.
  • AtLee Watson (2017) is currently a Toxicology Study Director at Inotiv.

Other graduates have obtained prominent positions within government including:

  • Stephany Eytcheson (2018), is an Environmental Microbiologist with the US EPA.
  • Erin Yost (2014) serves as a Staff Toxicologist with US EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). 
  • Crystal Lee Pow (2016), has been appointed as the State Toxicologist in the Division of Public Health, Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Other trainees who have had more time to advance their respective careers have assumed prominent leadership roles in the toxicology/EHS community.

  • Larissa Williams (2010), is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Bates College. 
  • Peter Broglie (2010) is an R&D Scientist at Global Laboratory Services. 
  • Bethany S. Reeves (2009) is a Toxicologist at Dow Chemical Corp, Midland MI. 
  • Chad Blystone (2006) is a Toxicologist in the Toxicology Branch of the National Toxicology Program. 
  • Steven Simmons (2006) is a Research Biologist in National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency. 
  • Vickie S. Wilson (2000) is the Reproductive Toxicology Branch Chief within the NHEERL Toxicity Assessment Division at US EPA. 
  • Cynthia Rider (2006) is a Toxicologist in the Toxicology Branch of the National Toxicology Program. 
  • Dori Germolec (1999) is the Systems Toxicology Group Leader at NIEHS. 
  • Nathan Cherrington (1998) is Professor, Distinguished Scholar, and Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Arizona, Director of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (NIEHS EHS Core Center) at University of Arizona, and the recipient of the prestigious SOT Achievement Award. 
  • Lisa J. Bain (1996) is an NIH-funded investigator and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Environmental Toxicology at Clemson University. 
  • William Baldwin (1995) is an NIH-funded investigator and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program at Clemson University. 
  • David M. Owens (1995) is an NIH-funded investigator and Florence Irving Professor in the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology at Columbia University, New York. 
  • Laura A. Hansen (1993) is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Creighton University School of Medicine, Director of Molecular Mechanisms and Cancer Targets Program, and an NIH-funded investigator. 
  • Steven D. Holladay (1989) is Professor and Head, Dept. of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia. 
  • Jon Cook (1985) is Chief Toxicology Scientist and Vice President at Pfizer Inc., and served as President of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) (2011-12). 
  • Norbert Kaminski (1985) served as SOT President (2014-2015) and currently serves as Director of the Center for Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University and is member on the NIEHS National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.
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