News

Tomás R. Guilarte, PhD, has been named the incoming chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, effective April 1, 2010.  Dr. Guilarte will succeed Joseph Graziano, PhD, professor of Environmental Health Sciences and associate dean for research at the Mailman School of Public Health, who has served as interim chair of Environmental Health Sciences.

Dr. Guilarte is a superb scientist, educator, and academic leader.  His research focuses on mechanism-based neuroscience and neurotoxicology using behavioral, cellular, and molecular approaches, ranging from studies using primary culture of neural cells to the application of brain imaging technologies.  Dr. Guilarte’s laboratory has been one of the pioneers in the application of state-of-the-art molecular imaging in neurotoxicology to understand the beneficial and detrimental effects of the living environment, including environmental pollutants, on the central nervous system. 
Dr. Guilarte is internationally recognized for elucidating the central nervous system effects produced by exposure to low levels of lead during development. These studies have provided evidence that lead is a potent antagonist of the NMDA receptor, a protein that is important for brain development and learning and memory.  Dr. Guilarte also has made seminal contributions to the development of therapeutic strategies for reversing the detrimental effects of lead on the brain.  His laboratory was the first to demonstrate that “environmental enrichment” not only reverses the learning performance deficits produced by developmental lead exposure, but also reverses the molecular effects on the NMDA receptor.  Expanding his work on the effects of heavy metal exposures, Dr. Guilarte is examining the central nervous system effects of chronic low-level manganese exposure.  A third major focus of Dr. Guilarte’s research is to both assess the effects of environmental chemicals on the central nervous system and assess the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. He has a track record of success in leading, organizing, and maintaining cohesive and effective interdisciplinary working groups from multiple universities and disciplines.

Dr. Guilarte serves in key editorial positions and plays an active role in scientific organizations.  He was associate editor of NeuroToxicology from 1999-2006, and currently is on the editorial board of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology and of NeuroToxicology.  In addition, he has served as president and vice president of the Neurotoxicology Specialty Section of the Society of Toxicology. 

Dr. Guilarte has developed, supported, and led a highly-regarded program in neurotoxicology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, where he is presently professor of Environmental Health Sciences and holds a joint appointment as professor in the Division of Human Nutrition, Department of International Health.  Dr. Guilarte also has a strong track record of mentoring and training pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, many of whom have won numerous awards in national and international student competitions.  Dr. Guilarte received a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and an MS degree in Medical Physics from the University of Florida.