Three members of the IITRI staff were presented with Director's Awards in December 2004 for their contributions to IITRI's success:

• Rebecca Goldsmith (left), Test Article Coordinator for the Inhalation Toxicology Division. Ms. Goldsmith is responsible for test article organization, coordination, and delivery to scientific staff working in the Inhalation Toxicology Division. She was recognized for her outstanding organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.
• Marilyn Marlow (center), B.S., Senior Quality Assurance Auditor for the Quality Assurance Unit. Ms. Marlow performs laboratory inspections and data and report audits for toxicology, carcinogenicity and inhalation studies to ensure compliance with Good Laboratory Practice regulations. She was recognized for consistently outstanding performance during her more than 40 years of service to IITRI.
• Zhihua "Sheila" Huang (right), M.S., Associate Chemist for the Inhalation Toxicology Division, is responsible for the validation of new and existing chemical analysis methods using state-of-the-art instrumentation such as CG/MS and GC/MS/MS. Ms. Huang was recognized for her continuing contributions to increasing throughput in the MS laboratory while maintaining outstanding quality standards.

"The Director's Awards were conceived to recognize those individuals whose consistently outstanding performance allows us to differentiate ourselves as an organization, and as such, supports our overall success," said David L. McCormick, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., Vice President and Director of IITRI. "These three recipients clearly have done so."

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David L. McCormick, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., Vice President and Director of IITRI, and Dr. Rob Kavet of the Electric Power Research Institute have won the 2004 President's Award from the American College of Toxicology (ACT). The ACT President's Award is given each year to the authors of the manuscript selected as the "best paper" published in the International Journal of Toxicology.

Their paper, "Animal Models for the Study of Childhood Leukemia: Considerations for Model Identification and Optimization to Identify Potential Risk Factors," proposes a new model for the multi-step pathogenesis of pediatric leukemia that involves both prenatal and post-natal events. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the ACT in Palm Springs, CA, in November 2004.

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Scott Kraatz, B.S., Technical Editor, in December 2004 completed the requirements to receive a Graduate Certificate in Software Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. As a technical editor for IITRI, Life Sciences Group, Mr. Kraatz's responsibilities include interpreting statistical data from toxicology assays and writing reports describing the materials, methodology, and results of the studies. Mr. Kraatz is also responsible for developing and maintaining the company's Internet and Intranet sites along with administering, developing and validating software applications. Mr. Kraatz also holds a Certificate in Computer Science from Loyola University Chicago.

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David L. McCormick, Ph.D., D.A.B.T., Vice President and Director of IITRI, in August 2004 celebrated 25 years of service with IITRI. Dr. McCormick's primary research activities are in the areas of experimental toxicology, pharmacology and carcinogenesis. He has published over 200 research papers, abstracts, reviews and book chapters in these areas.

Dr. McCormick has served as principal investigator on five grants and more than 20 contracts, master agreements and task orders from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. A former member of the NIH Reviewers Reserve, he has served on numerous grant and contract review committees for the NCI, the U.S. Army and other governmental and private foundation funding agencies. He is a regular reviewer of manuscripts submitted to several scientific journals. He is also the IITRI Professor of Physiology and Toxicology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Dr. McCormick is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Association for Cancer Research; International Association for Breast Cancer Research; Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine; Society of Toxicology; Society of Toxicology, Midwest Regional Chapter; and Society of Toxicology, Carcinogenesis Specialty Section.

Ivory Williams, Senior Bioexperimentalist in the Inhalation Toxicology Division, in November 2004 celebrated 35 years of service with IITRI. In his role as senior animal caretaker, Mr. Williams is responsible for all aspects of animal care in the Inhalation Toxicology Division, as well as the coordination of the work assignments of other animal care staff working throughout the Life Sciences Group. Mr. Williams is certified by American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) at the level of Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician. He is a member of the AALAS, Chicago Branch.

Megan Ng, Senor Financial Analyst, in November 2004 marked five years of service with IITRI. Ms. Ng supports the project managers in evaluating financial data for their contracts. She also supports the Accounting department in budgeting and financial period closing.

Nicole Richwine, B.S., Laboratory Biologist II in the Microbiology and Molecular Biology Division, in December 2004 marked five years of service with IITRI. Ms. Richwine aids in research and development of protocols to determine detection levels of microbes such as Shigella, E. coli, Salmonella typhi, Bacillus anthracis, and Citrobacter freundii. She also implements different techniques to determine threshold and detection levels of microbes in order to identify microbes from ecological water and soil samples. Ms. Richwine also provides support for safety assessments of bio-pesticide studies.

Jeffrey A. Kreyer, M.S., Laboratory Biologist II in the Toxicology Division, in January 2005 marked five years of service with IITRI. Mr. Kreyer has served as Study Supervisor for several subchronic, chronic and acute studies, including dermal irritation, carcinogenicity, chemoprevention, toxicity, sensitization, maximization and primary eye irritation. He also assists in training other personnel in lab procedures. He is a member of the Society of Toxicology, Midwest Regional Chapter.

Rachel McKinstry, B.S., Assistant Chemist in the Toxicology Division, in January 2005 marked five years of service with IITRI. Ms. McKinstry serves as Study Supervisor for analytical chemistry studies. In this role, she performs method development, writes protocol-specific methods, orders necessary lab equipment and writes study-specific forms. Ms. McKinstry also has experience as a Laboratory Biologist I in the Toxicology Division. She is a member of the Society of Toxicology, Midwest Regional Chapter.