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

Lucio G. Costa is currently Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. Dr. Costa is a renowned neurotoxicologist whose research interests are focused on understanding the role of neurotoxic substances in neurodevelopmental disorders and other neurological, neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr Costa’s research laboratory makes use of a variety of in vivo and in vitro cell culture systems, transgenic animal models and imaging techniques to study the cellular, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of neurotoxicity. 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.