Patrick Allard, assistant professor of environmental health sciences in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has been awarded the 2015 International ToxScholar Grant from the Society of Toxicology. As part of the grant, he will visit the Gaborone campus of the University of Botswana and the Doornfontein campus of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa in April.
In cooperation with faculty at both institutions, Allard will speak with undergraduates, graduate students and faculty on local environmental health and toxicology issues, introductory toxicology concepts, and opportunities available through international professional organizations.
Allard also will work to set up regular communication between the environmental health departments at these two campuses. His goals include promoting local interactions among toxicologists, promoting international collaborations, increasing research capacity and ensuring continuity by using working groups in his UCLA courses to communicate with students at the African campuses about ways to address identified environmental health issues.
The Allard Laboratory is part of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the public health school and the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. It is also affiliated with the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and the Molecular Toxicology Interdepartmental Graduate Program.
Founded in 1961, the Society of Toxicology is a professional and scholarly organization of more than 7,800 scientists from academic institutions, government, and industry representing the great variety of individuals who practice toxicology in the U.S. and abroad.
