IBT researcher selected to National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council

(HOUSTON, TX) — Richard Finnell, Ph.D., Regents Professor in the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology, recently was selected to serve as a member on the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.

The National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NAEHSC) advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) on research issues, programmatic content and related factors in the environment that affect human health.

Dr. Finnell’s responsibilities include attending the Council’s three meetings each year at Research Triangle Park, N.C., on the NIH main campus. During these meetings, council members make recommendations on matters relating to the conduct and support of research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs. They also respond to agency requests for special scientific reviews and public presentations, as needed.

Research in Dr. Finnell’s laboratory focuses on the interaction between specific genes and environmental toxicants as they influence normal embryonic development. The laboratory currently has four major research areas, all of which focus on determining susceptibility to environmentally induced birth defects.

In addition to being a Regents Professor, Dr. Finnell also is the Margaret M. Alkek Professor of Medical Genetics and executive director and president of the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine.