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1 posts from May 2006

May 21, 2006

Research at the EPA

RESEARCH AT THE EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency's nearly $600 million-per-year research program is small compared with the efforts at other Federal science offices. Its work, however, can have big impacts on public health and the economy. Work in the agency's Office of Research & Development (ORD) ranges widely, from computational toxicology and homeland security investigations to research on ecosystems and what is likely the world's most widely used database on risks from chemicals. The program, however, faces a dwindling budget while it tries to meet greater demands for information and to engender greater sophistication in its science. Nevertheless, George M. Gray, who took over the helm of ORD six months ago, nearly bubbles over with enthusiasm about his job. He is struck by the passion that EPA researchers bring to their jobs every day, "working hard and really committed to the agency's mission." Gray, who came from Harvard UniGrayversity, says, "It's different from an academic institution where this day-to-day sense of mission is a little more oriented toward your lab group. But here, it's an entire agency that feels like it has a common mission, a common goal that everybody believes in." Gray has been both EPA assistant administrator for ORD and the science adviser to all of the agency's programs since November 2005. His predecessor at ORD, J. Paul Gilman, left the government for the Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies in November 2004, after serving in the Administration of President George W. Bush for two-and-a-half years. Gray, who turns 43 this month, holds a doctorate in toxicology from the University of Rochester. For the 16 years before coming to EPA, Gray worked at the Harvard School of Public Health, serving his last two years as the executive director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis and the two years previous as its acting director. His research there examined the scientific basis for human risk assessment and its application to policy. Gray focused on trade-offs in risk managment. Chemical & Engineering News, 05/15/06, pp. 38-41.

 




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