ADMIN/QA NEWS

ADMIN NEWS - RICK LlOYD

You can print your own copy of the 2OOO Leave Record and the 2000 Pay Chart from the Internet The 2000 Leave Record is at
http://intranet. epa.gov/rtp/services/hrmd/leave/Ieave.htm.
The 2OOO Pay Chart reflecting the 4.6% rest of US pay increase is at:
http://intranet.epa.gov/rtp/services/hrmd/pay/pay.htm. This increase will appear in the January 25 paycheck.

QA NEWS - TOM HUGHES

Category 1 and 2 Research Studies   At present, there are five (5) Category 2 studies that are either planned or underway in ETD. A Category 2 study is defined as a study that may have regulatory implications and/or will have high media visibility. Such studies require a more extensive intramural research protocol (IRP). In addition, a technical system review by the QAM (Tom Hughes) and a QA associate, and a review of all reports and manuscripts, is required. If you are involved or anticipate conducting a Category 1 (has regulatory implications) or a Category 2 study, please inform Tom Hughes (ex. 7644) as soon as possible because these studies can require up to a month of QA review.

Intramural Research Protocols (IRPs)   Every research study that is conducted in ETD requires an IRP. In an ideal world, each study should have its own IRP. However, a group of related studies can be conducted under one IRP. In addition, please review the status of your IRPs. If they are more than 2 years old, they probably need to be modified and updated.

Visits to all ETD PIs by the QAM   The new ETD Quality Assurance Manager (QAM), Tom Hughes, will be visiting all the PIs in ETD over the next several months to discuss the status of their projects. Each meeting should not take more than one hour. Tom will be calling the PIs in January to setup appointments.

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SEMINARS/MEETINGS

WIP SCHEDULE

JANUARY 18 - INES PAGAN
FEBRUARY 1 - MIKE EASTERLING
FEBRUARY 15- MIKE DEVITO

BRANCH CHIEFS' COLUMN

ITB - MARYJANE SELGRADE

Hellos and Goodbyes
ITB welcomes a new postdoc this month, Pramili Singh. Pramjla recently completed her Ph.D. at Louisiana State University, and will be working with Ian. Her project will involve the effect of particles on respiratory infection. At the same time Wumin Dong has completed his postdoc in the pesticides and kids area and he is leaving to take a position at FDA. We wish him well.

A visit from our Regional Scientist
Lisa Ryan, who is on detail from ITB to Region 2, spent a week here in December working on manuscripts. She also presented a seminar on activities in the region and the life of a regional scientist Lisa is just beginning the second year of her detail.

Trips
Ralph Smialowicz made two presentations at the IPCS/WHO-sponsored meeting on Immunotoxicity and Risk Assessment in Berlin in December.

PKB - HUGH BARTON

Congratulations and Goodbyes
Chris Hurst successfully defended his thesis and is off to my old stomping grounds, Boston. He will post-doc with David Waxman at Boston University. Luz Maria Del Razo has left to return to her work and home in Mexico; the arsenic group will sorely miss her superb analytical chemistry skills.

Jane Ellen Simmons and Rex Pegram attended a Safe Drinking Water Meeting in Miami on November 15-1 7, 1999. A main research need which resulted from the meeting is to conduct experiments in animals on DBP mixtures found in drinking water.

Elaina Kenyon and Mike Hughes were invited speakers on arsenic toxicity at a meeting sponsored by the WHO, which was held in Australia on November 11 and 12, 1999. The following week, both ETD scientists were members of a WHO/IPCS Task Group on arsenic toxicity and, as such, will author chapters on an Environmental Health Criteria Document on the metabolism and toxicity of arsenic in laboratory animals, respectively.

The above four talks are discussed in the upcoming NHEERL NEWSLETTER

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