An interview with Lucio G. Costa and Michael Aschner, section editors for toxicology

Michael Aschner is the Gray E. B. Stahlman Professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine as well as a Senior Investigator at the Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Dr Aschner’s research group has a particular interest in the neurobiology and physiology of astrocytes and the signaling mechanisms associated with central nervous system injury. Dr Aschner’s laboratory studies metal uptake and distribution in the brain, investigating the mechanisms of transport of methylmercury and manganese across the capillaries of the blood–brain barrier. His research utilizes various experimental models (C. elegans, tissue cultures and rodents) to understand the acute toxicity of manganese deposition in the brains of human neonates.In this interview we find out a little more about the key issues in the field of toxicology research.Lucio: I first became interested in pharmacology, a discipline which I thought was at the crossroad of medicine, chemistry and biology. After my doctorate in pharmacology, I was asked to consider a postdoctoral position in a new laboratory at the University of Milano, which was attempting to “launch” research in toxicology. I found the field fascinating and well trenched into everyday life. Indeed my first project was related to a color used in a very common alcoholic drink.Michael: As a graduate student in Neurobiology and Anatomy I rotated in the laboratory of the late Dr. Patricia Rodier. She was studying at the time the effects of methylmercury on neurodevelopment, addressing the antimitotic effects of this metal. I knew immediately this was an area of interest to me and have stuck with it since, through my postdoctoral years with “Mr. mercury”, Dr. Thomas Clarkson and independently thereafter.More than other areas of research, toxicology is interdisciplinary. While solid foundations in chemistry and biochemistry, biology, genetics, pathology and pharmacology are essential, they need to be integrated