Paul M. Foster, Ph.D.

Toxicology Branch

Paul M. Foster, Ph.D.
Acting Chief, Toxicology Branch
Deputy Director, NTP Center for the
Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction

Tel (919) 541-2513
Fax (919) 316-4255
foster2@niehs.nih.gov
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop EC-34
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709
Delivery Instructions

Paul Foster, Ph.D., is the Acting Chief of the Toxicology Branch and Deputy Director of the NTP's Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (http://cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. His recent research is focused on investigating the mechanisms of environmental chemical and drug effects on reproductive development. Prior to joining NIEHS in 2002, he was the director of the research program in endocrine, reproductive and developmental toxicology at the CIIT Centers for Health Research. He joined CIIT in December 1995 after a 13-year career at Zeneca’s (formerly Imperial Chemical Industries) Central Toxicology Laboratory in Cheshire, England, where he was head of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology.

Foster's research interests include the understanding the potential human health effects of environmental endocrine disruptors (particularly antiandrogens); mechanisms of testicular toxicity; the study of early testicular Leydig cell dysfunction induced by chemicals as a prelude to hyperplasia and tumors and the toxicokinetic and dynamic parameters affecting the induction of reproductive and developmental toxicity. He also has a broad interest in risk assessment issues in these areas and currently serves as the NTP’s senior discipline expert in Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology.

Foster was presented with the European Society of Toxicology's young scientist award in 1988 for his work on testicular toxicity and the Society of Toxicology's Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology specialty section award for best paper published in Toxicological Sciences in 2001 and 2004. He has served on numerous national and international advisory committees (EPA, WHO, IPCS, ECETOC, OECD, INSERM, MRC, NRC/ NAS, SETAC) dealing with reproductive toxicology and endocrine disruption. He also holds an adjunct appointment at North Carolina State University.

Foster is a member of a number of learned Societies dealing with toxicology and reproduction and is a former Chair and member of the Continuing Education Committee (1996-1999) and a Past President of the Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology specialty section of the Society of Toxicology (1997-2001). He has served on the editorial boards of Reproductive Toxicology, Birth Defects Research: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology and as an Associate Editor of Toxicological Sciences. Foster is the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and numerous regulatory study reports.

Selected Publications

1. Barlow N.J. and Foster P.M.D. (2003).  Pathogenesis of Male Reproductive Tract Lesions from Gestation through Adulthood Following in Utero Exposure to Di(n–butyl) Phthalate.  Toxicological Pathology 31: 397-410.
2. Barlow, N.J., Phillips, S.L., Wallace, D.G., Sar, M., Gaido, K.W. and Foster, P.M.D. (2003).  Quantitative Gene Expression Changes in Fetal Rat Testes Following Di(n–butyl) Phthalate Exposure. Toxicological Sciences 73: 431-441.
3. Turner, K.J., McIntyre, B.S., Phillips, S.L., Barlow, N.J., Bowman, C.J. and Foster, P.M.D. (2003).  Altered Gene Expression during Rat Wolffian Duct Development in Response to In Utero Exposure to the Antiandrogen Linuron. Toxicological Sciences 74: 114-128.
4. Bowman, C.J., Barlow, N.J., Turner, K.J., Wallace, D.G. and Foster, P.M.D. (2003).  Effects of in utero exposure to finasteride on androgen-dependent reproductive development in the male rat.  Toxicological Sciences 74: 393-406.
6. Barlow N.J., McIntyre, B.S. and Foster P.M.D. (2004).  Male Reproductive Tract Lesions at 6, 12 and 18 Months of Age Following In Utero Exposure to Di-n-Butyl Phthalate.  Toxicological Pathology 32: 79-90.
7. Gray L.E. and Foster P.M.D. (2003). Significance of experimental studies for assessing adverse effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Pure And Applied Chemistry 75: 2125-2141.
8. Lehmann, K.P., Phillips, S., Sar, M.,  Foster P.M.D. and Gaido, K.W. (2004).  Dose-dependent alterations in gene expression and testosterone synthesis in the fetal testes of male rats exposed to di(n-butyl) phthalate.  Toxicological Sciences 81: 60-68.
9. Mitchell, A., Bakshi, K., Kimmel, C., Buck, G., Feuston, M., Foster, P.M.D., Friedman, J., Holson, J., Hughes, C., Moore, J., Schwetz, B., Scialli, A., Scott, W., Vorhees, C., and Zirkin, B. (2004). Evaluating chemical and other agent exposures for reproductive and developmental toxicity. J Toxicol Environ Health A 67: 1159-1314.
10. Everitt, J.I. and Foster, P.M.D. (2004). Laboratory Animal Science Issues in the Design and Conduct of Studies with Endocrine-active Compounds. ILAR Journal 45: 417- 424.
11. Gray, L.E., Wilson, V., Noriega, N., Lambright, C., Furr, J., Stoker, T.E., Laws, S.C., Goldman, J.,  Cooper, R.L. and Foster. P.M.D. (2004). Use of the Laboratory Rat as a Model in Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing. ILAR Journal 45:425-37.
12. Tani, Y, Foster, P.M.D., Sills, R.C. Chan, P.C., Peddada, S.D. and Nyska, A. (2005).  Epididymal Sperm Granuloma Induced by Chronic Administration of 2-Methylimidazole in B6C3F1 Mice. Toxicological Pathology  33: 313-319.
13. Foster, P.M.D. and Harris, M.W. (2005). Changes In Androgen-Mediated Reproductive Development In Male Rat Offspring Following Exposure To A Single Oral Dose Of Flutamide At Different Gestational Ages.  Toxicological Sciences 85: 1024-1032.
14. Bowman, C.J., Turner, K.J., Sar, M., Barlow, N.J., Gaido, K.W. and Foster, P.M.D. (2005).  Altered gene expression during rat Wolffian duct development following di(n-butyl) phthalate exposure. Toxicological Sciences 86: 161-174.
15. Carruthers, C.M. and Foster, P.M.D. (2005).  Critical Window of Male Reproductive Tract Development in Rats Following Gestational Exposure to Di-n-butyl Phthalate. Birth Defects Research (Part B) 74: 277-285.
16. Foster, P.M.D.(2005).  Mode of Action: Impaired Fetal Leydig-Cell Function — Effects on Male Reproductive Development Produced by Certain Phthalate Esters. Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 35: 713-719.
17. Foster, P.M.D.(2006). Disruption of reproductive development in male rat offspring following in utero exposure to phthalate esters.  Int. J. Andrology  29:140-147.
18. Foster, P.M.D.(2007). Induction of Leydig Cell Tumors by Xenobiotics. In: The Leydig Cell in Health and Disease (Hardy M and Payne A, eds), Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. ISBN 978-1-58829-830-0
19. Cowin, P.A., Foster, P.M.D. and Gail P. Risbridger, G.P. (2007). Endocrine Disruption in the Male. In: Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals: From Basic Research to Clinical Practice. (Ed. Andrea C. Gore) Part of "Contemporary Endocrinology," series editor P. Michael Conn, Humana Press, Totowa, NJ,
20. Melnick, R., Nyska, A., Foster, P.M.D., Roycroft, J.H. and Kissling, G.E. (2007). Toxicity and carcinogenicity of the water disinfection byproduct, dibromoacetic acid, in rats and mice.  Toxicology 230: 126-136.
21. Bell, D.R., Clode, S., Fan, M.Q., Fernandes, A., Foster, P.M.D., Jiang, T., Loizou, G., MacNicoll, A., Miller, B.G., Rose, M., Tran, L and White, S. (2007). Toxicity of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD) in the Developing Male Wistar(Han) Rat I: No Decrease in Epididymal Sperm Count After a Single Acute Dose. Toxicological Sciences 99: 214-223.
22. Foster, P.M.D and Gray, L.E. (2007). Toxic responses to the reproductive system.  In: Cassarett & Doull’s Toxicology: the basic science of poisons. (Klaassen, C.D, ed). 7th Edition, McGraw Hill, New York. pp761-806.
23. Hotckiss, A.K.,  Rider, C.V., Blystone, C.R., Wilson, V.S., Hartig, P.C., Ankley, G.T., Foster, P.M.D., Gray, C.L. and Gray, L.E. (2008). Fifteen years after "Wingspread" - Environmental Endocrine Disrupters and human and wildlife health: Where we are today and where we need to go. Toxicological Sciences 105:235-259.

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