2011 Outstanding New Investigator: Marc A. Nascarella, PhD
Marc A. Nascarella, PhD
Outstanding New Investigator
Dr. Marc A. Nascarella is a toxicologist at Gradient (Cambridge, MA) and specializes in comprehensive chemical evaluations for use in human health risk assessments, product safety evaluations, and litigation support. He is also active in Gradient’s Nanotoxicology Practice where he writes quarterly articles for various trade publications, and has recently served as a Guest Editor of a Dose-Response special issue on nanomaterials. Dr. Nascarella has previously served in a number of academic research centers, professional scientific organizations, government agencies, and the active-duty military.
Dr. Nascarella holds an academic appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he has lectured on environmental health topics, and collaborates with an interdisciplinary dose-response research group. His current research is focused on evaluating high-throughput screening assays to better characterize response in the low-dose zone. These investigations have included evaluations of pharmaceuticals (e.g., antineoplastic and antimicrobial agents), suspected chemical mutagens, and nanomaterials. Dr. Nascarella is an author on over 65 scientific publications and presentations, dealing mostly with quantitative dose-response assessment. Recently, he presented a methodology to evaluate biphasic dose-responses at a National Academy of Sciences risk assessment symposium. Dr. Nascarella’s research has been recognized with awards from the Society of Toxicology’s Risk Assessment Specialty Section, the Colgate-Palmolive/Society of Toxicology Awards Committee, the Entomological Society of America, and the Society for Risk Analysis’ Dose-Response Specialty Group.
Dr. Nascarella earned a B.S. (cum laude) from Norwich University where he currently serves on the Board of Fellows for the School of Mathematics and Science. He also earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in the Department of Public Health’s toxicology program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (Advisor Dr. E.J. Calabrese), and has post-graduate training in immunotoxicology at Texas Tech University/Health Sciences Center (Advisor Dr. S.M. Presley).
Dr. Nascarella is a member of the International Dose-Response Society, Sigma Xi, Society for Risk Analysis, Society of Toxicology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
