Dietert

Rodney R. Dietert, professor of immunotoxicology in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named director of the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) at Cornell.

He replaces June Fessenden-MacDonald, founding director of the program that addresses the relationship between environmental risk factors and breast cancer through a variety of research and education strategies. Fessenden-MacDonald is retiring from the university as an associate professor of molecular biology and genetics.

Dietert was director of the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology in the Cornell Center for the Environment when BCERF was founded in 1995 and became affiliated with the toxicology unit. He is a specialist in the effects of toxic substances on the immune systems of humans and other animals.

BCERF has a program staff of eight, and draws on the expertise of faculty and staff members of Cornell's colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Human Ecology and Veterinary Medicine, as well as New York Weill Cornell Medical Center and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The program works to translate research into everyday life by performing critical evaluations of new studies on the relationship of breast cancer to diet and to pesticides and other chemicals. BCERF also seeks to enhance communication among science and health professions while facilitating statewide discussion among citizens, health professionals, lawmakers and others concerned with reducing the risks of breast cancer. Research and outreach information can be found at the BCERF website: http://cfe.cornell.edu/bcerf/.

Dietert, who assumes the BCERF directorship on July 17, praised Fessenden-MacDonald's leadership in developing a program "that reflects the very best attributes of Cornell University. " BCERF, he said, "is committed to promoting gap-filling research on breast cancer and has pursued an aggressive outreach effort consistent with the land-grant mission of Cornell. The novel multi-media program to deliver research results to those who need them most has empowered individuals and families to make informed decisions in efforts to reduce health risks."

The new director said the next phase of the program will see BCERF becoming even more proactive in facilitating new research geared to understanding common environmentally linked mechanisms for breast cancer and related diseases. He said BCERF will help bring new research faculty to the university through the formation of department and college partnerships

"Because many of the environmental risk factors and physiological issues surrounding breast cancer are also important in other diseases, such as prostate cancer, BCERF will gradually expand its research and outreach efforts to include breast cancer-related diseases," Dietert said.