2005 - Tiffany Bredfeldt, University of Arizona

Superfund Basic Research Program

2005 Karen Wetterhahn Award Recipient

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) is pleased to announce, Tiffany G. Bredfeldt, a 5th year graduate student (advisor, A. Jay Gandolfi) received the Eighth Annual Karen Wetterhahn Memorial Award. Tiffany was selected for her contributions to environmental metals research and her work on the interaction of monomethylarsonous acid (MMA[III]) with human bladder cells.

Each year the NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program presents the Karen Wetterhahn Award to an outstanding scholar to pay tribute to the life and scientific accomplishments of Karen E. Wetterhahn, former director of the SBRP at Dartmouth College. Wetterhahn died July 8, 1997 as the result of an accidental exposure to dimethylmercury. She was an established authority on the effects of heavy metals on biological systems, as well as a dedicated teacher and mentor. The SBRP honors Wetterhahn's legacy through the annual recognition of an outstanding student who studies metals and best demonstrates the qualities of scientific excellence exhibited by Wetterhahn.

As the recipient of this award, she presented her research at the annual meeting held in New York, NY on January 12-13, 2005. In addition to attending the SBRP annual meeting, she was invited to visit the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to present her work, learn more about NIEHS, and have the opportunity to meet with the directors of the Institute. Another aspect of the award is travel support to a national scientific meeting of her choice. Tiffany will also be highlighted in an upcoming issue of Environmental Health Perspectives in the Extramurally Speaking portion of the journal.

Bredfeldt graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, with a BS in microbiology. She will complete a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology this June 2006. For her postdoctoral work, she will take a fellowship in molecular carcinogenesis at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.