Edward J. Calabrese is an American toxicologist and professor in the department of environmental health sciences at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

. He is the editor emeritus of the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

'' Dose-Response''.

Education

Calabrese grew up in

Bridgewater, Massachusetts Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 28,633. The historic town center of Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston, Massachusetts and approxima ...

. He received his B.S. from

Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and ...

in 1968 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1972 and 1973, respectively.

Academic career

Calabrese began working at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1976.

Research

Early in his career, Calabrese conducted research on carcinogens. However, he is best known for his research into, and championing of,

hormesis Hormesis is a two-phased dose-response relationship to an environmental agent whereby low-dose amounts have a beneficial effect and high-dose amounts are either inhibitory to function or toxic. Within the hormetic zone, the biological response to ...

, which he has called "the fundamental dose-response model". In 2003, Calabrese told the ''Wall Street Journal'' that the view that there is no threshold of dose below which substances have no adverse effects, as has been stated in scientific textbooks, was "an error of historic proportions." He credits his interest in hormesis to an experiment he performed as an undergraduate in 1966. In the experiment, his instructor told Calabrese and his classmates to treat a peppermint plant with a growth-inhibiting substance, Phosfon, but when they did so, the plant responded by growing approximately 40% taller and leafier than plants not treated with the substance, the opposite of what had been expected. The class later discovered that they had accidentally used a highly diluted form of Phosfon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calabrese, Edward J. American toxicologists Living people People from Bridgewater, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Bridgewater State University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni Year of birth missing (living people)