MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Jan. 10, 2008)— University of Minnesota Cancer Center researcher Lisa Peterson, Ph.D., has been elected chair-elect of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Toxicology.

Peterson is the first woman elected to head the more than 1,000-member national society of chemists and biochemists whose scientific research focuses on toxicology, the study of poisons, their actions, detection, and treatment of conditions produced by them. She begins her duties as chair-elect this month, and next year she will become chair of the division.

Peterson is a professor in the University of Minnesota's Division of Environmental Health Sciences and her research laboratory is in the Cancer Center. Her research focuses on investigating the chemical compounds found in tobacco products and their impact on health and cancer causation. She is currently conducting research on the mechanisms by which nitrosamines and furan exert their tissue-specific carcinogenic effects.

Another Cancer Center researcher, Shana Sturla, Ph.D., was elected to a one-year term as member-at-large of the division. Sturla is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. Her research focuses on understanding the chemical mechanisms by which environmental chemicals cause cancer, and developing approaches for treatment and prevention using natural and synthetic agents.

Both Peterson and Sturla are members of the Cancer Center's Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Research Program. Sturla also is a member of the Prevention and Etiology Research Program at the Cancer Center.

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The University of Minnesota Cancer Center is part of the University's Academic Health Center and designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. For more information about the Cancer Center, visit www.cancer.umn.edu or call the information line at 612-624-2620.

The Academic Health Center is home to the University of Minnesota's six health professional schools and colleges as well as several health-related centers and institutes. Founded in 1851, the University is one of the oldest and largest land grant institutions in the country. The AHC prepares the new health professionals who improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatments and cures, and strengthen the health economy.

Media contacts:

University of Minnesota Cancer Center: Mary Lawson, Public Relations Director, 612-624-6165, 612-203-0819 (cell), mlawson@umn.edu

University of Minnesota Academic Health Center: Sara Buss, 612-626-7037