2021 ACT Award Recipients

Martin Green, PhD, began his career in the discipline of pharmacology, with its unique blend of chemistry and physiology and the specificity of receptors and their actions. His focus was on that most ephemeral of things: the central nervous system and sense perception. How are the external world and the internal world communicating in terms of neurotransmitters and electrical signals? Subsequent to that experience, Dr. Green went on to study the conditions during which signaling of neurotransmitters led to toxicity and to determine the means to reestablish homeostasis, particularly in area of organophosphate inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. He went from there to exploring the time course of events and the relationship of toxicity to plasma levels of antidotes. Facts or observations such as plasma levels may be thought of in a static way but also may be linked in time through the science of pharmacokinetics, a field that arose from chemical engineering and has great appeal to individuals like Dr. Green who wish to gain an appreciation of the underlying beauty of biological phenomena. Pharmacokinetics and its related area of toxicokinetics had significant applications to the area of toxicology and meaningfully contributed to a better understanding of dose-response relationships, which are central to predicting the relationship of toxicology studies to clinical trials—later leading to the study of the relationships between acute phase proteins and the clinical adverse events. Throughout his career, Dr. Green was lucky to be a member of various different and diverse groups of individuals who contributed to these areas, considering it a privilege and worthwhile experience.

Marion Fiedler Ehrich, RPh, PhD, DABT, ATS, is a professor at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM) in Blacksburg, Virginia. In addition to teaching pharmacology and toxicology to veterinary, medical, and graduate students, her professional responsibilities include toxicology research and serving as a relief pharmacist in the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital Pharmacy as well as a consultant for the Veterinary Toxicology Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Ehrich has a BS in pharmacy from South Dakota State University, an MS in pharmacology/toxicology from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in pharmacology/toxicology from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. She has been teaching at VMCVM since 1980, the year in which she became a member of the Society of Toxicology and a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS) in 1999 and served as its secretary-treasurer from 2006 to 2009. The Society of Toxicology provided Dr. Ehrich with its Merit Award in 2010 after service in multiple capacities, including as 2003–2004 President. She has also served on numerous national committees, including the US EPA Scientific Advisory Panel for the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Committee on Toxicology.

Holly Dursema, MS, DABT, is a senior research fellow in Nonclinical Drug Safety at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc, with experience in pharmaceutical safety assessment that spans 30 years. Ms. Dursema received her master of science in pharmacology and toxicology from Rutgers University and was awarded her Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology in 1996. Ms. Dursema’s focus is on regulatory strategies in toxicology. She has been actively involved in international project teams and assessments of new chemical entities, biologics, and oligonucleotides. Her service to ACT includes Council member from 2014 to 2017, Education Committee Chair in 2017, and membership in the Program, Education, and Nominating Committees. Ms. Dursema has chaired, organized, and/or presented in Continuing Education courses and Symposia on various topics, including metabolites, toxicokinetics and exposure multiples, nonclinical formulations and effects on exposure, oral anticoagulants, juvenile toxicity, and writing for regulatory authorities.

Suzanne Wolford has over 40 years of experience as a toxicologist and drug development consultant. After receiving her PhD from the University of Illinois, she worked at American Cyanamid/Lederle Laboratories for several years as a scientist, group leader, study director, and manager. She also conducted research in phototoxicity at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University. Before her recent venture as a self-employed consultant, she was a senior study director at Covance Laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin, where she worked for 22 years in the operational and consulting areas. She has served as a study director on over 300 toxicology studies in support of human pharmaceutical products, with a specialty in phototoxicity and ocular toxicity. She has also authored one book chapter and 10 papers, including several papers on normal ranges for clinical pathology of laboratory animals. Dr. Wolford is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a member of ACT. She has been active in ACT, where she has served on the Awards, Finance, and Nominating Committees, as well as serving as a Council member, Chair of the Continuing Education Committee, and the ACT delegate to the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC International). In addition, she has served as a lecturer at Study Director Training Courses in the US, China, and India.

Natalie Holman, PhD, is a toxicology project leader at Eli Lilly and Company. At Lilly, Dr. Holman is responsible for nonclinical safety assessment strategies and regulatory interactions. She supports discovery and clinical assets in multiple therapeutic areas. Her role also includes due diligence assessments for in-licensing opportunities and developing platform approaches to toxicity assessment of novel therapeutic modalities. Before joining Lilly, she was a project toxicologist at Altavant Sciences (a rare respiratory disease company) and its affiliate Roivant Sciences, where she supported molecules across the portfolio of several subsidiaries. Dr. Holman is a member of the Society of Toxicology and ACT. Dr. Holman is passionate about the professional development of fellow toxicologists and contributing to the ACT community. Since joining ACT, she has served as a speaker and Chair for multiple Symposia and Continuing Education courses, organized events for early career professionals (ECPs), contributed to the Toxicology for Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Scientists Course, and chaired the ACT ECP Subcommittee. ln 2020, she was elected to the Membership Committee and is excited to welcome the next generation of ECPs to the College. Dr. Holman received her PhD in toxicology and Certificate in Translational Medicine from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. She conducted her doctoral research in mechanistic hepatotoxicity at the Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences (formerly the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, CIIT).

Lemaire J, Van der Hauwaert C, Savary G, Dewaeles E, Perrais M, Lo Guidice JM, Pottier N, Glowacki F, Cauffiez C. “Cadmium-Induced Renal Cell Toxicity Is Associated With MicroRNA Deregulation.” Int J Toxicol 2020 Mar/Apr;39(2):103-114.

Kayla Frost, University of Arizona

Moses New-Aaron, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Neha Paranjape, University of Iowa

Sarah Belperain, Becton Dickinson

Michael Fagiola, St. John's University

Rashid Faizan, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Brian Thompson, Yale University

Chukwuebuka Eze, Federal University Oye-ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Chiagoziem Otuechere, Redeemer's University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria

Adeolu Adedapo, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria