Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology

The mission of the University of Nebraska Center for Environmental Health and Toxicology is to develop and coordinate collaborative intercampus, interdisciplinary research programs, outreach and other services that address critical issues in environmental health and toxicology.

The Center focuses on developing collaborative research and outreach programs and obtaining financial support for them. An important aspect of these activities is to continue to identify areas of mutual scientific interest among faculty at UNMC, UNL, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK).

Historical Context

The Center's roots go back to 1989 when a group of UNMC faculty under the leadership of Dr. Ercole Cavalieri began discussing development of graduate studies in toxicology. It was agreed that an effective program would need to involve faculty from both the UNMC and UNL campuses. At the end of 1989, the Environmental Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Program was organized with 16 faculty members. Over the past several years, UNMC, UNL and UNO faculty have jointly developed an intercampus/interdisciplinary graduate program to train M.S. and Ph.D. graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and to conduct collaborative research. Faculty members' research interests cover a wide spectrum. Emphasis is placed on molecular mechanisms of toxicology and carcinogenesis. In February 1997 the Board of Regents established the Center for Environmental Toxicology at the University of Nebraska. The Center has since grown to include 55 faculty.

In November, 2007, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the move of the Center and it's graduate program under the auspices of the College of Public Health on the University of Nebraska campus creating an intercampus, multidisciplinary graduate program leading to M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in environmental health, occupational health and toxicology. This revision and expansion of the existing Toxicology graduate program will accommodate broader graduate education goals. The program will provide students with the knowledge base, laboratory skills, and problem-solving abilities to become independent, innovative investigators using state-of-the-art approaches to address scientific problems in the fields of environmental health, econological health, occupational health and safety, and toxicology.

The Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Toxicology Graduate Program (EHOHTGP) of the College of Public Health is intended for students who wish to pursue a course of study leading to the Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degree in Environmental Health, Occupational Health and Toxicology. The EHOHTGP operates under the auspices of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska through the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Dean for Graduate Studies and Research.