Wetterhahn Award

Superfund Basic Research Program 2004 Annual Meeting: Application of Molecular Technologies for Reducing Uncertainties in Risk

Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award

Each year, the SBRP presents the Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sbrp/products/products11.cfm)  to an outstanding scholar to pay tribute to the life and scientific accomplishments of Karen E. Wetterhahn, former director of the SBRP at Dartmouth College. Dr. Wetterhahn died in 1997 as the result of an accidental exposure to dimethylmercury. An acknowledged international expert on the effects of heavy metals on biological systems, Dr. Wetterhahn was a leader in conducting research on how metals initiate cancer and other metal-induced human diseases at the molecular level. She fostered links between biology, chemistry, environmental studies, engineering, and medical science, insisting that "The life sciences are interdisciplinary".

Dr. Anne Spuches of Dartmouth College was the recipient of the seventh annual Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award.

Dr. Spuches, who earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Yale University, is in her second year as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College. Advised by Professor Dean E. Wilcox, she is participating in interdisciplinary studies addressing the environmental and human health effects of arsenic. She presented a summary of her work to investigate the toxicity of arsenic at low chronic exposure, primarily through arsenite in drinking water, poses a significant health risk for people around the world. Dr. Spuches discussed her use of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to quantify the interaction of arsenite and monomethylarsenite with various thiols. This information is fundamental to mapping the distribution and chemistry of arsenic in the cell, and may also help in the design of new, more effective, chelating agents for the treatment of arsenic poisoning.

The NIEHS congratulates Dr. Spuches on her research accomplishments and wishes her continued success in her scientific career.

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