Toxicology

Toxicology is the science that describes the adverse biological effects of exogenous chemical and physical stressors, including environmental, industrial, and agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals. This course will introduce the principal biological processes that determine an organism’s response to a toxicant, including absorption, distribution through a biological system, metabolism, elimination, and effects at the site(s) of action. We will discuss modern challenges in toxicology, such as assessing toxicity of mixtures and testing some of the thousands of untested chemicals in commerce. The material will be presented in lecture and student-led discussions, with readings from the toxicology literature.