Debra Laskin, PhD

Distinguished Professor, Roy A. Bowers Endowed Chair; Department Chair

Pharmacology and Toxicology

Lab Affiliation: Debra Laskin Lab

Education & Training

PhD - Pharmacology/Toxicology - Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
MA - Biopsychology - City University of New York, NY
BA - Psychology - New York University, NY
Post-Doctoral Fellowship - Immunology - Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Research Interests

The research in my laboratory is focused on elucidating inflammatory mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis. I have collaborated with a number of investigators working in different animal model systems including the lung, liver and skin. A major emphasis of my work is analysis of lung toxicity induced by inhalation of environmental pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, and vesicants including sulfur mustard and nitrogen mustard. My laboratory uses rodent models of exposure and techniques in flow cytometry/cell sorting, molecular biology, and biochemistry to characterize the phenotype and functioning of inflammatory cells in the lung. Studies with transgenic mice lacking key inflammatory proteins, and chimeric mice generated by bone marrow transplantation are also being used to identify specific inflammatory mediators and macrophage subpopulations contributing to tissue injury and repair.
I have been working in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology for over 30 years. I have a broad background and training in these disciplines, with specific expertise in immunology, pulmonary physiology, lung pathology and tissue injury, key research areas for this application. My doctoral work at the Medical College of Virginia was focused on immunotoxicology
specifically on the role of macrophages in tumor promotion and carcinogenesis. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wistar Institute, I was trained in immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Since arriving at Rutgers University in 1982, I have been continuously funded by NIH on several R01 grants. I have made several seminal contributions to our understanding of the role of inflammation in chemically-induced tissue injury, and have received a number of awards for my research including the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Achievement Award, the Burroughs Welcome Toxicology Scholar Award, the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research and most recently, the SOT Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section Career Achievement Award. I have also written numerous influential invited reviews on macrophages and tissue injury, which are widely referenced.

Publications

Awards

2017 - Society of Toxicology Education Award
2017 - New Jersey Health Foundation Research Award
2015 - Society of Toxicology Inhalation and Respiratory Specialty Section Career Investigator Award
2014 - Society of Toxicology Women in Toxicology Mentoring Award
2009 - Rutgers University Board of Trustees Excellence in Research Award
2007 - Named Roy A. Bowers Endowed Chair, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University
1999 - Dolph Adams Award, Society for Leukocyte Biology (for the most cited research publication in the society’s journal - Journal Leukocyte Biology)
1993–1998 - Burroughs Wellcome Toxicology Scholar Award
1991 - Society of Toxicology Achievement Award
1989 - Society for Leukocyte Biology Young Investigator Research Award
1988 - Frank R. Blood Award of the Society of Toxicology (for the best research publication in the society’s journals), renamed Board of Publications Award