Laboratory Information:
National Center for Computational Toxicology
109 T.W. Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Website: http://www.epa.gov/comptox/
Agency/Department: Environmental Protection Agency
Region: Southeast
FLC Laboratory Representative:
Ms. Karen Dean
Phone: (919) 541-2854
Email: dean.karen@epa.gov
Background/History of the Laboratory:
The National Center for Computational Toxicology
(NCCT) is a part of EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD). Located in Research Triangle Park, N.C., NCCT coordinates and implements EPA's
research in the field of computational toxicology. NCCT scientists serve as scientific reviewers and
advisors by
providing technical assistance to other Laboratories and Centers within ORD, to EPA Program Offices
and
Regions, and to the states. Additionally, NCCT serves as a source of training in computational toxicology
by
offering seminars, mini- courses, symposia, and staff details. NCCT is committed to collaborating with
other
governmental and private organizations to leverage external resources whose complementary expertise
can
help EPA accelerate progress in high priority research areas. NCCT works closely with the STAR-funded
Center for Environmental Bioinformatic Research to provide tools and training to broader scientific
audiences
and sponsors external research in the field of computational toxicology conducted in support of EPA's
mission.
Mission of the Laboratory:
The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
is to safeguard public health and the environment
from harmful effects that may be caused by exposure to pollutants in the air, water, soil, and food.
Protecting
human health and the environment carries with it the challenge of assessing the risk that is posed by
tens of
thousands of chemicals. The large number of chemicals that the Agency must evaluate and the many different
legal statutes that regulate chemicals have traditionally made it impossible for the Agency to evaluate
every
chemical with the most rigorous testing strategies. Instead, standard toxicity tests have been limited
to only a
small number of chemicals. Today, however, the young field of computational biology offers the possibility
that,
with advances in computational biology's subdisciplines (e.g., genomics, proteomics, and metabonomics),
scientists may have the ability to develop a more detailed understanding of the risks posed by a much
larger
number of chemicals. The application of the tools of computational biology to assess the risk chemicals
pose
to human health and the environment is termed Computational Toxicology. Computational Toxicology is
defined as the application of mathematical and computer models to predict adverse effects and to better
understand the mechanism(s) through which a given chemical induces harm. Three strategic objectives
of the
computational toxicology initiative are to:
Technology Areas of Expertise:
- Computational Toxicology
- Nanotechnology
- Environmental Bioinformatics
