HONORING DR. LINDA BIRNBAUM, CHAMPION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 152
(Extensions of Remarks - September 20, 2019)
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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING DR. LINDA BIRNBAUM, CHAMPION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH
______
HON. DAVID E. PRICE
of north carolina
in the house of representatives
Friday, September 20, 2019
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize
Dr. Linda Birnbaum, Director of the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), who
is retiring in October. Dr. Birnbaum has served as director of NIEHS,
located in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, for the past 10
years. She is the first woman and first board-certified toxicologist to
serve in this position.
Dr. Birnbaum always had a clear vision for the NIEHS/NTP, evidenced
by her implementation of two strategic plans over the course of her
tenure. Under her leadership, NIEHS has become a world leader in
environmental health and toxicology research. For example, scientific
studies, such as the annual Report on Carcinogens, which analyzes
substances in our environment that may cause cancer, have ignited
changes in health policy and safety standards in the U.S. and across
the world. The creation of the Children's Health Exposure Analysis
Resource, a grant program that established a network of exposure
assessment laboratories across the country, paved the way for policy
changes that protected the health of children. Dr. Birnbaum's team also
established the NIEHS Clinical Research Unit, allowing the NIH to
partner with top biomedical teams at our RTP Universities: Duke,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State.
In the wake of environmental disasters, Dr. Birnbaum and her team led
critical research projects following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the 2014 West Virginia chemical spill.
Dr. Birnbaum and her team worked in coordination with scientists across
the NIH and with the residents of affected areas, recruiting over
33,000 participants for the Deepwater Horizon study.
Dr. Birnbaum has received numerous accolades for her outstanding
achievements in the field of science. In 2010, she was elected to the
Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine.
She also was awarded the North Carolina Award in Science in 2016, the
state's highest civilian honor given by North Carolina's Governor. For
her work in toxicology she was named the Distinguished Toxicology
Scholar by the Society of Toxicology in 2018 and earned the Mildred S.
Christian Career Achievement Award from the Academy of Toxicological
Sciences.
Dr. Birnbaum's work as a federal research scientist spans nearly 40
years, including 19 years directing research at the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. She also currently serves as an adjunct professor in
the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and held a similar
position in Toxicology and Environmental Health at Duke University. She
has maintained her research program even while serving as NIEHS/NTP
director, and at last count had over 700 published articles and reports
to her credit. Fortunately, she plans to continue her laboratory
research part-time.
Madam Speaker, it has been my privilege to know and work with Dr.
Birnbaum during much of her tenure at EPA and NIEHS. I was delighted to
see her--an accomplished, practicing scientist--appointed to the
directorship of NIEHS, and she has been a trusted source of advice on
the Institute's needs and the state of the research enterprise. She has
a passion for the NIEHS/NTP mission and has inspired a generation of
scientists with her vision of what well-designed research can
contribute to public health and environmental quality.
I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Linda Birnbaum
as she reaches this milestone. We thank her for her years of dedicated
service and the contributions she has made toward the health and well-
being of millions of people.
____________________
