Speakers

Melvin E. Andersen, Ph.D.
The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences
Presentation: Advancing Toxicity Testing Methods for the 21st Century

Melvin E. Andersen, Ph.D., is the director of both the Computational Biology Division and the Program in Chemical Safety Sciences at the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences in Research. In this capacity, his responsibilities include imparting a systems biology emphasis to dose-response assessments for health effects of environmental chemicals.

Dr. Andersen was professor of environmental health at Colorado State (1999 – 2002) and vice president of the K.S. Crump Group of ICF Kaiser International Consulting (1994-1998). Between 1971 and 1994, he held positions in toxicology research and research management in the federal government (Department of Defense and Environmental Protection Agency) and in private industry (Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology).

His career contributions include developing biologically realistic models of the uptake, distribution, metabolism, and biological effects of drugs and toxic chemicals and applying these models in safety assessments and quantitative health risk assessments. He is recognized for developing short courses and computer demonstrations in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling.

Dr. Andersen authored or co-authored 320 papers, 60 book chapters, and numerous reports and abstracts. He has received several awards for professional contributions. Dr. Andersen is board-certified in industrial hygiene and in toxicology and is a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences. His current research interests are developing mathematical descriptions of control of genetic circuitry and the dose response and risk assessment implications of perturbations of these processes. 

Dr. Anderson received his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from Cornell University.