Birnbaum Picked To Head NIEHS

Linda S. Birnbaum has been appointed the new director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. Birnbaum is a widely respected toxicologist who has studied the impact of environmental chemicals for almost 29 years at NIEHS and EPA. Birnbaum headed EPA’s Experimental Toxicology Division for 16 years. At the announcement of her appointment by NIH Acting Director Raynard S. Kington, Birnbaum said she was excited about the job. “Chronic exposures and chronic disease can have multiple causative factors. I am eager to translate the work of the basic scientist and epidemiologist into improvements for the health of our citizens and communities,” she said. The appointment will be effective in January 2009.