Jay Goodman, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, has been selected to receive the 2019 Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation Award in Excellence in Pharmacology/Toxicology from the PhRMA Foundation.
He earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Michigan, and has been at MSU for 48 years, joining the then-Department of Pharmacology as an assistant professor in 1971. A prolific author, lecturer and leader who has leant his expertise on numerous academic and regulatory committees, he is also a former president of the Society of Toxicology and served as the MSU Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology’s interim chair from 2001-2002.
Goodman’s toxicology research focuses on understanding how chemicals adversely affect human health, especially the role they play in cancer. In his recent studies, he explored how an important mechanism controlling how genes are expressed in cells, called epigenetics, can contribute to carcinogenesis. He was one of the first to explore this area.
Among the many honors he’s received include the Society of Toxicology’s Merit Award, the International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology’s International Achievement Award, and the John Barnes Prize Lecture from the British Toxicology Society.
“Dr. Jay Goodman has been a major contributor to the field of mechanistic toxicology. He always went beyond just identifying which chemical substances cause harm to really understanding why. This greatly advanced the field and improved overall risk assessment in regulatory toxicology,” said Richard Neubig, chair of the MSU Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “He has been a highly sought-after advisor and consultant both nationally and internationally and trained a number of outstanding toxicologists during his career at Michigan State University.”
The Award in Excellence program honors former Foundation grant recipients for outstanding career achievements. Awards are given to scientists who received a foundation grant at the outset of their careers in a discipline important to the research-based pharmaceutical industry and went on to distinguish themselves through their scientific and/or academic achievements.
Goodman will be presented with his award in April during the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics annual meeting in Orlando.