Biographical Info

Distinguished Professor
Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ

Director of the Division of Toxicology
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI)
Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ

Director
Rutgers University CounterACT Research Center of Excellence
Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ

Research Areas

Dr. Jeffrey D. Laskin is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health at Rutgers University.  He is Director of the Division of Toxicology at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) and is Deputy Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at Rutgers University. He is Director of the Rutgers University CounterACT Research Center of Excellence, a major research effort to develop the most promising scientific discoveries that lead to improved medical countermeasures to protect Americans against a chemical attack.

Dr. Laskin received a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from New York University, NY and a Ph.D. in Experimental Therapeutics from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, SUNY at Buffalo, NY. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Institute for Cancer Research at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in NY before joining the faculty the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the School of Public Health at Rutgers University. Dr. Laskin has served on numerous study sections for the National Institutes of Health and was an invited participant at the National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders Roundtable on Wound Healing. He is a member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Rutgers University and is Deputy Director of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at Rutgers University. Dr. Laskin has also served as a member of the corporation of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Dr. Laskin has served as a reviewer on over 30 journals that deal with pharmacology, toxicology and cancer research. With over 250 peer-reviewed publications, three books, and numerous book chapters and editorials, he has been recognized as one of the most cited scientists in the field of chemical toxicology. His research focuses on mechanisms of chemical-induced skin, lung and liver toxicity. He is an expert in mechanisms of chemical toxicity, phototoxicology and redox chemistry. Dr. Laskin has been continuously funded by the NIH for the last 35 years and has served as PI on numerous RO1’s, as a Program Project PI and as a Center Director. Currently, he is completing research on exposure and health effects of chemical warfare agents and is working to identify countermeasures to sulfur mustard exposure.

Research Highlights

• Demonstrated that sulfur mustard induces autophagy in the skin
• Developed models for sulfur mustard-induced skin and lung toxicity
• Synthesized >100 inhibitors of chemical-induced skin and lung injury
• Demonstrated that UVB light is an inducer of prostaglandin and leukotriene biosynthetic enzymes

Scholarly Activities

• Founder, New Jersey Basic and Applied Dermatology Forum
• NASA, Issues in Advanced Environmental Health and Advanced Food Technology
• NIH grant reviewer
• Member, Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• Member, NJ Department of Homeland Security Preparedness College
• Executive Committee, NJ Universities Homeland Security Research Consortium
• Executive Committee, University Center for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response
• Director, Rutgers University CounterACT Research Center of Excellence

Recent Publications

1. Aleksunes, LM, Gray, JP, Meshanni, J, Laskin, JD, Laskin, DL. Repurposing FDA-approved drugs to treat chemical weapon toxicities: Interactive case studies for trainees. Pharmacol Res Perspect. 2024;12 (4):e1229. doi: 10.1002/prp2.1229. PubMed PMID:38965070 PubMed Central PMC11223991
2. Smith, LC, Abramova, H, Vayas, K, Rodriguez, J, Gelfand-Titiyevksiy, B, Roepke, T, Laskin, JD, Gow, AJ, Laskin, DL. Transcriptional profiling of lung macrophages following ozone exposure in mice identifies signaling pathways regulating immunometabolic activation. Toxicol Sci. 2024; :. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae081. PubMed PMID:38897669
3. Radbel, J, Meshanni, JA, Vayas, KN, Le-Hoang, O, Abramova, E, Zhou, P, Joseph, LB, Laskin, JD, Gow, AJ, Laskin, DL et al.. Effects of ozone exposure on lung injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress in a murine model of non-pneumonic endotoxemia. Toxicol Sci. 2024; :. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfae062. PubMed PMID:38749002
4. Bellomo, A, Herbert, J, Kudlak, MJ, Laskin, JD, Gow, AJ, Laskin, DL. Identification of early events in nitrogen mustard pulmonary toxicity that are independent of infiltrating inflammatory cells using precision cut lung slices. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2024;486 :116941. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2024.116941. PubMed PMID:38677601
5. Roldan, TL, Li, S, Guillon, C, Heindel, ND, Laskin, JD, Lee, IH, Gao, D, Sinko, PJ. Optimizing Nanosuspension Drug Release and Wound Healing Using a Design of Experiments Approach: Improving the Drug Delivery Potential of NDH-4338 for Treating Chemical Burns. Pharmaceutics. 2024;16 (4):. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16040471. PubMed PMID:38675132 PubMed Central PMC11053863
6. Malaviya, R, Meshanni, JA, Sunil, VR, Venosa, A, Guo, C, Abramova, EV, Vayas, KN, Jiang, C, Cervelli, JA, Gow, AJ et al.. Role of macrophage bioenergetics in N-acetylcysteine-mediated mitigation of lung injury and oxidative stress induced by nitrogen mustard. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2024;485 :116908. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2024.116908. PubMed PMID:38513841
7. Laskin, JD, Ozkuyumcu, K, Zhou, P, Croutch, CR, Heck, DE, Laskin, DL, Joseph, LB. Skin Models Used to Define Mechanisms of Action of Sulfur Mustard. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2023;17 :e551. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2023.177. PubMed PMID:37849329
8. Malaviya, R, Laskin, JD, Businaro, R, Laskin, DL. Targeting Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha to Mitigate Lung Injury Induced by Mustard Vesicants and Radiation. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2023;17 :e553. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2023.178. PubMed PMID:37848400 PubMed Central PMC10841250
9. Smith, LC, Gow, AJ, Abramova, E, Vayas, K, Guo, C, Noto, J, Lyman, J, Rodriquez, J, Gelfand-Titiyevskiy, B, Malcolm, C et al.. Role of PPARγ in dyslipidemia and altered pulmonary functioning in mice following ozone exposure. Toxicol Sci. 2023;194 (1):109-119. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfad048. PubMed PMID:37202362 PubMed Central PMC10306402
10. Meshanni, JA, Lee, JM, Vayas, KN, Sun, R, Jiang, C, Guo, GL, Gow, AJ, Laskin, JD, Laskin, DL. Suppression of Lung Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Fibrosis following Nitrogen Mustard Exposure by the Selective Farnesoid X Receptor Agonist Obeticholic Acid. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2024;388 (2):586-595. doi: 10.1124/jpet.123.001557. PubMed PMID:37188530 PubMed Central PMC10801770