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ORD Scientist wins Major Award
(May, 2003) Dr. Dan Costa, Chief of the Pulmonary Toxicology Branch in the EPA's National Health and Environmental Effect Research Laboratory (NHEERL), received a Career Achievement Award from the Society of Toxicology at their annual meeting on March 11, 2003. Dr. Costa's award was given in recognition of his contributions to the field of inhalation toxicology by the Inhalation Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology.
Dr. Costa has led the Pulmonary Toxicology Branch since 1987. His primary research interests focus on the potential for air pollutants to adversely affect human health. By using animal models representing healthy and susceptible human populations, he has made major inroads into understanding how contaminants in the air can cause illness and even death. He has used physiological, cellular and, more recently, molecular approaches to develop and characterize these models for the effects of PM on fibrosis, pulmonary and systemic hypertension, emphysema, and asthma.
Dr. Costa was one of the main authors of EPA's research program for particulate matter (PM). Much of the PM program strategy from this document was incorporated into the National Academy of Science" Research Priorities for Particulate Matter" that have become the driving force for PM research nationwide.
EPA has acknowledged the quality of Dr. Costa's scientific abilities by awarding several Science and Technology Awards for six of his publications. He also received the Society of Toxicology Specialty Section's paper of the year award in 1999. Dr. Costa and his Pulmonary Toxicology Branch are certain to continue making significant contributions to our scientific understanding of the health effects associated with PM exposure as well as exposure to other air pollutants.
For more information, contact Estella Waldman at Waldman.Estella@epa.gov.